Golden Monkey of Tee-Tah-Toh
The Golden Monkey of Tee-Tah-Toh is a Karamjan artefact that was supposedly discovered by the archaeologist Asgarnia Smith. After the completion of Desert Treasure I, Smith will tell the player the story of his discovery. According to Smith, the artefact resided inside of a "spooky old temple" he happened upon one day in the middle of the Karamjan jungle.[1] Covered in vines, Smith discovered a secret entrance to the temple, only to find himself surrounded by zombies and hostile tribesmen. After reportedly fighting his way through the corridors, all the while dodging various traps, the Golden Monkey of Tee-Tah-Toh was found sat on a great pedestal at the heart of the temple.[2] Paying little heed to the archaeological provenience of the artefact, Asgarnia Smith at once lifted up the statuette from its original context, thereby triggering a trapdoor to open up beneath him, plunging him into a great dark pit below. A tribesman of significant proportion assaulted him, but was overcame due to Asgarnia hiding behind a nearby stalactite and shooting him down with a shortbow – a reference to the popular mechanic of safespotting.[3] Though the archaeologist reports to have hidden behind a stalactite, which refers to a mineral formation that hangs from the ceiling, it is possible that he might have meant a stalagmite instead.
The temple mentioned in this account might be Rashiliyia's Tomb, which the player visits as a part of Shilo Village. Its entrance is similarly hidden deep in the Karamjan jungle and covered in vines, and is populated by traps and undead ones on the inside, which Smith might be referring to as 'zombies'. However, no tribesmen can be encountered there, nor does it seem to contain the pedestal the Golden Monkey rested on. The original location of the artefact may therefore very well be another temple hidden in the tropical forests of the island, perhaps not featured in-game.
Not much is known about the Golden Monkey of Tee-Tah-Toh apart from the tale of its discovery. It is made out of solid gold, and sculpted in the form of a primate of some description.[4] Based on this, it is possible that the artefact depicts the goddess Marimbo, patron deity of apes and monkeys, primarily worshipped in the town of Marim on Ape Atoll. If this would be the case, it would indicate that a cult of Marimbo may have existed on Karamja at some point in the past, the presence of which however has long since faded among the Karamjan Monkeys. Similarly little can be said of the artefact's current location: even though Asgarnia Smith claims to conduct excavations on behalf of the Archaeological Society of Varrock, the Golden Monkey of Tee-Tah-Toh cannot be found on display at the Varrock Museum.[5] Given that Asgarnia Smith takes little effort to hide his aspirations as a treasure hunter, the statue may have been sold for profit instead, making the Golden Monkey of Tee-Tah-Toh an example of an illicit antiquity.