New scans suggest Tutankhamun was buried in an older tomb

New geophysical measurements near Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings suggest that previously undiscovered chambers may lie nearby, ERR reports. The data indicate that rock-cut spaces were tightly filled with rubble before the young pharaoh was buried, although it is too early to draw definitive conclusions.

The findings support a theory that Tutankhamun may actually rest in the entrance area of another person’s tomb complex. Archaeologists consider Queen Nefertiti, believed to have preceded Tutankhamun, the leading candidate.

Historical records indicate that Tutankhamun died young and therefore needed a burial place quickly. British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, who led the new research project, suggests that the ruler was buried in an existing large chamber originally built for Nefertiti because there was not enough time to construct a new tomb.

Tutankhamun’s tomb is unusually small for a pharaoh, and its layout resembles a corridor more than a traditional burial complex.

Corridors filled with rubble

Attempts to find hidden chambers have previously caused sharp disagreements among researchers. Reeves presented his theory more than a decade ago after noticing cracks in the walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

In 2017, radar measurements taken from inside the tomb led Italian researcher Francesco Porcelli to conclude that no new chambers were present. At the time, it appeared that there were no major secrets behind the walls and that only rock lay beyond them.

A study recently presented in the journal Nature has cast new light on those earlier conclusions. This time, researchers did not measure signals from inside the tomb but mapped the ground from outside it.

The instruments detected clear differences in density immediately around the tomb. These point to long corridors running parallel to the spaces already known.

Unlike empty chambers, the new structures appear to be tightly filled with rubble. Such infill makes anomalies exceptionally difficult to detect with ground-penetrating radar. Radar waves bounce back from the stones, weaken in the soil and can produce misleading results.

A more detailed analysis of the data also indicated that the structures were built before Tutankhamun’s burial. This supports the theory that the pharaoh was buried in a previously constructed tomb complex.

No excavation yet

Researchers must take into account that ground-penetrating radar measures differences in soil density. The instruments do not reveal clear outlines of rooms but register waves reflected from below the ground.

Interpreting those signals requires extensive experience and detailed knowledge of the local geology. As a result, different research teams can often reach opposing conclusions from the same data.

More cautious geologists say the new findings should be treated with great care. The limestone mass in the Valley of the Kings contains numerous natural cracks and faults, and a man-made corridor filled with rubble may look very similar to a natural fissure in radar images.