Archaeologists have identified a significant "anomaly" buried beneath the Giza pyramid complex in Egypt, using advanced tools like ground-penetrating radar. This discovery was made under the Western Cemetery, near the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid, revealing two underground structures: one shallow and one deep.
The researchers noted the structures' density differs from the surrounding ground, suggesting they are man-made and were likely backfilled after construction. The Western Cemetery is a known burial site for royal family members and high-ranking officials. An initial survey using ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography detected the anomaly in the northern part of the survey site, though the exact structure and location remained unclear.
The shallow structure measures 10 meters wide by 15 meters long and is less than 2 meters deep. It is believed to have been built to support the larger, deeper structure, which ranges from 5 meters at its shallowest to 10 meters at its deepest point. The researchers theorize that the shallow structure may have served as an entrance to the deeper one, possibly caused by a mixture of sand and gravel or sparse spacing with air voids.
They emphasize the importance of the continuity between the shallow and deep structures. While the exact material causing the anomaly remains undetermined, it is likely a significant subsurface archaeological structure. The team hopes that careful excavation will reveal the nature of these intriguing structures.
