Scans of King Tut’s Tomb Reveal New Evidence of Hidden Rooms
Second round of radar scanning will look for more clues to what lies behind the walls of Tut’s burial chamber. One theory: the tomb of famous Queen Nefertiti.
For at least 3,339 years, nobody has seen what lies behind the west and north walls of the burial chamber of Tutankhamun. But this secret of three millennia might not last much longer.
On Thursday, Mamdouh Eldamaty, the Egyptian antiquities minister, held a press conference in Cairo to announce a tantalizing new piece of evidence: Radar scans on those walls have revealed not only the presence of hidden chambers, but also unidentified objects that lie within these rooms. These objects, Eldamaty said, seem to be composed of both metal and organic materials.
“It could be the discovery of the century,” he said. Noting that he can’t speculate further about the things that lie within the chambers, he said that another radar test has been scheduled for the end of this month, in order to determine the best way to proceed with the investigation.
The results of the radar scan represent another step toward a radical new understanding of the most famous tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. First discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922, the tomb of King Tut yielded an astonishing array of grave goods—more than 5,000 artifacts, many of them in pristine condition. It was the most intact royal tomb ever found, providing Egyptologists with an unprecedented glimpse into the material life of a king who ruled during the 14th century B.C.
Pregnant Egyptian mummy revealed by scientists
A team of Polish scientists say they have discovered the only known example of an embalmed pregnant Egyptian mummy.
Warsaw Mummy Project
The discovery was made by researchers at the Warsaw Mummy Project and revealed in the Journal of Archaeological Science on Thursday.
The project, started in 2015, uses technology to examine artefacts housed at the National Museum in Warsaw.
The mummy was previously thought to be a male priest but scans reveal it was a woman in the later stages of pregnancy.
Experts from the project believe the remains are most likely of a high-status woman, aged between 20 and 30, who died during the 1st Century BC.
“Presented here is the only known example of a mummified pregnant woman and the first radiological images of such a foetus,” they wrote in the journal article announcing the find.
A CT scanner and radiologists have been assisting the archaeological work.
“This is our most important and most significant finding so far, a total surprise,” team member Wojciech Ejsmond of the Polish Academy of Sciences told the Associated Press.
Four bundles, thought to be wrapped and embalmed organs, were found within the mummy’s abdominal cavity but scientists say the foetus had not been removed from the uterus.
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The scientists said it was unclear why it had not been extracted and embalmed separately, but speculated spiritual beliefs about the afterlife or physical difficulties with removal may have contributed.
Archaeologists discovered one of Britain’s main medieval graveyards
Archaeologists found the human remains during a dig beneath an old school building at Cambridge University – one of England’s oldest and most impressive universities.
Images from the dig, viewing almost fully preserved medieval bodies unearthed after centuries of burial, were released for the first time yesterday, in a report published by the Archaeological Journal.
The report exposed the complete skeletal remains of more than 400 medieval burials were uncovered by the team, along with the incomplete remains of around 1000 other individuals.
The shocking images show the bodies tidily laid out in rows, without coffins or many personal items.Cambridge archaeologists say the skeletons, which date back to somewhere between the 13th and 15th century, were found while digging beneath the Old Divinity School at St John’s College.
The school, built in the late 1870s, was the past site of the St John the Evangelist Hospital’s committal ground, which was established in 1195 to care for to poor and sick.
Researchers say the lack of coffins and individual items supports the theory the graveyard was used to serve the poor.
The site also had gravel paths, a water well and flower seeds, suggesting that relatives had visited their deceased loved ones.
Craig Cessford of the Cambridge University Department of Archaeology and Anthropology led the dig and said it was “one of the main medieval hospital osteoarchaeological assemblages from the British Isles.”
The cemetery’s survival and location was no secret.
What historians didn’t know was just how many burials stood on the site. The sheer scope of the graveyard has been unknown until now.
Despite rumors linking the hospital graveyard to the Black Death and the plague, there was no evidence of disease on the remains, archaeologists said.
Most of the leftovers belonged to men aged between 25 and 45.
The bodies astonishingly did not display many serious illnesses and conditions that would have required medical attention.The Archaeological Journal report suggests that “this could reflect that the main role of the Hospital was religious and physical care of the poor and infirm rather than medical treatment of the sick and injured”.
Archaeologists discovered Underground Pyramid at Tiahuanaco
The ancient fortress site of Tiahuanaco in western Bolivia is still itself revealing secrets thousands of years after its peak as capital of an empire, and home to one of the most important civilizations prior to the Inca. Archaeologists from the Tiahuanaco Archeological Research Center have found an underground pyramid at the site using ground-penetrating radar.
According to Fox News Latino, the Bolivian government has announced excavations are set to start in this summer on the new find at the Kantatallita area of Tiahuanaco, 71 kilometers west of La Paz.
Using ground-penetrating radar, researchers also have reportedly invented “underground anomalies” which they suspect might be monoliths, but further analysis will be carried out before getting official conclusions.
Tiahuanaco Archeological Research Center director Ludwing Cayo, told EFE News Agency that Tiahuanaco will be undergoing further studies over the next five years. This is welcome news to some, as the site and stone monuments may have suffered from get in touch with weathering 4,000 meters over sea level.
AcercandoNaciones reports that some of the remains of Tiahunaco have become dilapidated, and some researchers advise these might advantage from the protection of an indoor museum.
Tiahuanaco has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000.
It was the capital of an empire that extended into present-day Peru and Chile, victorious from 300 to 1000 A.D., and is supposed to be one of the most significant cities of ancient America. Andean legends claim the area about Lake Titicaca was the cradle of the first humans on Earth. According to the myths, Lord Viracocha, the creator of all things, chose Tiahuanaco as the place of formation. It is unknown how old these remains are, but some researchers suggest that they date to 14,000 years B.C.
Fox News Latino writes that at its height, the Tiwanaku realm covered 600,000 square kilometers and “left a legacy of exciting stone monuments such as Kalasasaya, the semi-underground Templete, sculptures of famous figures, the Gate of the Sun and ruins of palaces.
Earlier excavations at the site have uncovered substantial portions of the Akapana Pyramid Mound.
Archaeology’s InteractiveDig writes that in the ancient past there is proof that the recognized transportation was razed and recreated by the inhabitants, and the city was abandoned. Researchers say there was an unexpected shift in 700 A.D. earlier monuments were torn down, and the blocks were used to put up the Akapana Pyramid. However, by the time the city was abandoned, the project had still not been completed, and laid unfinished.
Results from the excavations at Tiahuanaco and the research into the recently detected hidden pyramid are expected to be announced later this year.
Ancient Cauldron Discovered Inside The Tomb Of Celtic Prince In France
France’s National Archaeological Research Institute discovered an ancient grave site, from probably that of an Iron Age Celtic prince, which may lead to the trade between some of Europe’s earliest civilizations.
Since October last year a team from the institute has been excavating the site, and have dated it to the end of the First Iron Age a period characterized by the wide use of the metal.
The ‘exceptional’ grave, crowded with Greek and possibly Etruscan artifacts’, was exposed in a business zone on the outskirts of Lavau in France’s Champagne region.
This prince is covered with his chariot at the centre of a huge mound, 130 feet (40 metres) across, which has been dated to the 5th Century BC. A team from the National Archaeological Research Institute, Inrap has been excavating the site since October last year.They newly dated it to the end of the First Iron Age – a period characterised by the widespread use of the metal. Its discovery could shed light on Iron Age European trade, researchers say.
The 2,500-year-old funeral mound has at its heart a 14 square metre burial chamber, not yet opened, of an early royal.
The cauldron discovered in the grave has four circular handles decorated with bronze heads that shows the Greek god Acheloos.
The river divinity is shown with horns, a beard, the ears of a bull and a triple mustache. Eight lioness heads decorate the edge of the cauldron. This tomb enclosed a decorated ceramic wine pitcher made by the Greeks.
The decorations on the vessel reveals the god Dionysus, lying under a vine and facing a woman. The archaeologists also found leftovers of a iron wheel, from a chariot buried with the prince. Another interesting detection was a perforated silver spoon that was part of the banquet utensils, presumably to filter the wine.