Mysterious “anomaly” discovered near the Giza pyramids – DW – 05/15/2024

A team of archaeologists, using sophisticated remote sensing techniques, has discovered an intriguing 4,500-year-old L-shaped underground “anomaly” near the historic Pyramids of Giza. The discovery was made in an old cemetery, located in the so-called Western Cemetery, which is known for housing mastabas, rectangular structures that served as tombs for the pharaoh’s family members and high officials.

The research, which involved collaboration with experts from Higashi Nippon International University and Tohoku University in Japan as well as the National Research Institute for Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) in Egypt, was published in the journal Nature. Archaeological potential. These mastabas, connected to underground chambers by vertical shafts, have been studied before, but part of the area had not been investigated until now.

To explore the area, researchers used electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR). These techniques made it possible to detect and map buried structures by sending electrical currents and radar waves underground.

Hidden archaeological remains?

According to the researchers, the results of these surveys have been “quite significant”, revealing potentially important archaeological remains that were hidden until now.

Of particular interest is an underground “anomaly” that was identified as an L-shaped surface structure, approximately 10 by 15 meters and at a depth of up to 2 meters, which was the entrance to another deeper structure located between 5 Could work as. And 10 meters underground and with an estimated extension of 10 by 10 metres.

Scientists speculate that this configuration may be related to a grave. “It appears to have been filled with sand, which means it was filled in after it was constructed,” he explained in the study. However, the exact nature of the materials has not yet been determined.

“We believe that the continuity of the shallow structure and the larger deep structure is important,” indicated the authors, who stress the need to “excavate (the remains) without delay to establish their purpose.”

Motoyuki Sato, the study’s first author and professor at Tohoku University, highlighted this in a communication biology Excavations are already underway to clarify the function of this L-shaped structure, ensuring that “the shape is too sharp” to be a natural phenomenon.

Felipe Espinosa Wang with information from Archaeological Prospect, Live Science and Newsweek.