Deconstructing Fossil Prompts: A Taxonomy of Primitive Command Structures Ignition Cycle Series, Part II

This technical note formalizes a taxonomy of “Fossil Prompts,” primitive prompt patterns that characterized early human–LLM interaction. It defines fossil prompt types, analyzes their cognitive functions and failure modes, demonstrates their structural decomposition into Ignition-ready components, and presents deterministic, testable transformation rules that convert fossils into artifacts compatible with the Ignition Cycle. This framework extends the conceptual foundation introduced in Part I, establishing a pathway from command-oriented prompting to deliberate cognitive design.