As I was thinking about how fun it would be to have a job where you solve puzzles in the world, it struct me that media never depicts archeology in a real light. My short search seemed to confirm my thoughts. Most ancient sites are not guarded by elaborate traps or secret riddles to get in. From what I’ve found there were some crossbows here and there. Some rare hidden rooms with a lot treasure, but again, no traps.
For fun, here’s a link to the 10,000-year clock, built by The Long Now Foundation. The level of modern engineering, and planning, that it takes to build a clock that will operate for 10,000 years is fascinating. When you stop to think about, say, the trope of a mechanism that will slide back a 20-ton rock door reliably after 2,000 years is quite ridiculous.
A large stone on a ramp, kept from rolling by a wedge, to be pushed out of position, by use of mechanical advantage through a lever, seems quite doable to me. You could even utilize a smaller initial stone to kick the wedge withholding a larger stone.
And then there are those secret doors where you pull a lever and the wall opens up on its own. What kind of mechanism would be reliable after all these years?