Locating Tombs

A 42-year-old method for finding water, monitoring pollution and helping with tunneling may also be a way to locate and protect tombs in the Valleys of the Kings and Queens and other burial sites in Egypt, according to Penn State researchers.

Fracture traces are the above-ground indication of underlying zones of rock fracture concentrations. An initial study in Egypt showed that some tomb passages and resting chambers were aligned along these fracture zones, suggesting that tomb builders knew that these locations had less resistant rocks and easier digging.

More extensive surface and subsurface mapping confirmed the idea that the builders knew what they were doing. The builders placed the entrances to their tombs in valley bottoms or receding depressions on the cliffs where the crumbling stone would hide the tombs. These tombs, built between 1500 and 1000 B.C., usually have a long entry hall leading to a burial chamber. They may have additional rooms for equipment and provisions and other storage areas. Tomb walls are often plastered and painted.

The tombs are usually built sloping downward or actually have vertical shafts. To date, 63 tombs are identified in the Valley of the Kings with tomb 63 located in February 2006.

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--LiveScience Staff

Credit: Katarin Parizek, Pennsylvania State University