Exploration of the Valley of the Kings Period tombs in the main valley. Various expeditions have continued to explore the valley, adding greatly to the knowledge of the area. In 2001 the Theban Mapping Project designed new signs for the tombs, providing information and plans of the open tombs. On February 8, 2006, the Supreme Council of Antiquities announced that an American team led by the University of Memphis had uncovered a pharaonic-era tomb (KV63), the first uncovered there since King Tutankhamun's in 1922. The 18th Dynasty tomb included five intact sarcophagi with coloured funerary masks along with 28 large storage jars, sealed with pharaonic seals. It
Minor tombs in the Valley of the Kings known about its clearance or contents. Today only the upper parts of the entrance shaft are accessible. The tomb probably dates to the Eighteenth dynasty. KV41 is located outside the main valley in what is called "the Valley of the Pits" behind Deir el-Bahari. It was discovered and examined by Loret in 1899 and was re-examined in 1991 by the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale. The tomb consists of just a shaft of over 10 meters deep. No objects were recovered from this tomb, and it seems likely that it was never finished or used. Nevertheless, it has been suggested this