Another New Tomb in the Valley of the Kings?

Praxiteles writes "A radar survey in 2000 found KV63, the tomb excavated near King Tutankhamen's tomb earlier this year. (KV stands for Valley of the Kings). Just announced is that this same radar survey shows an image of what appears to be a shaft to another tomb just 15 meters north of KV63. Will radar stratigraphy change the multi-millennial tradition of destructive excavation and open new opportunities in the search for buried treasure?"

Stupid Obligatory Slashdot Questions

[Anonymous Coward]

Gee, considering all the radar stratigraphy experts running around on this site, you should get the answer to your question in no time.

Meanwhile, I will wait for all the radar stratigraphy and egyptology experts to arrive.

Sheesh.

What??

[jlowery]

"Will radar stratigraphy change the multi-millennial tradition of destructive excavation and open new opportunities in the search for buried treasure?"

Let's hope it will open up new opportunities to learn about history, which contributes to the wealth of everyone.

Agenda week on slashdot.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Will radar stratigraphy change the multi-millennial tradition of destructive excavation and open new opportunities in the search for buried treasure?"

I have a better question. Why does every submission have to have the posters agenda? You could have said "Will radar stratigraphy open new opportunities in the search for buried treasure?".

Re:Lips of Truth Speak to Ears of Wisdom

[joss]

> Anybody debunked it yet?

I hope your not one of those of people [vast majority afaict] who
have very different standards of evidence between a claim and
the debunking of a claim.

Someone makes a claim and no matter what evidence they provide,
the hearing from someone else that that person had heard it was
"debunked" is enough for them to discard it.

I am familiar [and sympathetic to] the viewpoint that extraordinary
claims require extraordinary evidence, but this phenomena is different.
Just the use of the word "debunk" seems to short circuit many people's
critical facilities.

Archeologist versus Grave Robber

[BuildMonkey]

How long does a body have to be in the ground before digging it up the corpse and taking its valuables stops being grave robbing and becomes archeology? Is it archeology if you just take enough pictures and measurements? Shall we do some "archeology" on Westminster Abbey? The Vatican? I'm sure there are valuables buried with those bodies. How about digging up Lincoln's tomb - it could tell us more about how he lived and died. If you find these examples offensive consider this:

Time after time, from the Incas, the Mayas, the Egyptians, American Indians, etc. entire cities or societies worked for a generation to ensure that their royalty, leaders, or god-kings could rest forever undisturbed. What gives us the right to violate that sanctity? "Knowledge" is the canonical answer, but is it curiosity for curiosity's sake? And is that sufficient justification violate an entire society's clear wishes?

Re:Archeologist versus Grave Robber

[woolio]

How long does a body have to be in the ground before digging it up the corpse and taking its valuables stops being grave robbing and becomes archeology?

Grave robbing occurs when a burial ground is disturbed while members of the same race/society/tribe/etc are still present.

As soon as they have all been exterminated and the previous society no longer exists, then it becomes archaelogy..... because there is no longer any protest...

Re:Whenever they talk about tomb robbers I laugh

[radixvir]

The masks (as if that is all that would be found) come from different eras during history. By looking at their design and construction, you can tell how they changed over time and if there were any outside influences. Plus, profits from the museum can go to further expeditions. Anyway, archeology is learning about the past as well as preserving its history and artifacts.