The Rutian archaeological vessel was a type of specialized starship used by the Rutians for conducting archaeology missions.
In 2368, a Rutian archaeological vessel was the only ship, other than the USS Enterprise-D, in the vicinity of Dulisian IV that could possibly respond to the phony distress call sent from the planet by the Romulans. Despite this, Dr. Crusher urged that such a ship was not equipped to handle a distress call of that scale. (TNG: "Unification II")