Competitive archeology is the order of the day with Thebes, designed by Peter Prinz and published by Queen Games. I played this for the first time at the World Boardgaming Championships, and I was thoroughly impressed. There are several interesting mechanisms in the game.
Foremost is the track that handles the passage of time. Each player moves along the track at his own pace, but the player in last place on the track always goes next. So if Alex and Betty are tied when Alex goes on an expedition which takes nine weeks and Betty decides to spend two weeks studying, Betty is still seven weeks behind Alex and will get to move again.
There are five archaeological sites to explore. It's better to explore the sites early while they remain full of undiscovered treasure, but going early will mean that you won't be able to dig as much as you might like. This is an excellent balancing mechanism.
For 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, Thebes takes about 60 minutes per game. I highly recommend it.