Archaeology: The New Expedition strikes me as a good gateway game. There is enough game to it that a 'gamer’ won’t mind playing it and its simple enough to teach your average newcomer.
Personally, how I feel about the game depends on the monument being played and as card games tend to be, it can end up a bit of a swingy luck-fest whether you get a supreme winning run or a bit of a bum hand; with that said you always have options, there are always decisions to make but that can’t mitigate someone getting a bulk of the maps or high-value items and have greater trading value.