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 shreds of cloth and gaming pieces) and from two graffiti on its entrance doorway. These text and the material found in the tomb have been interpreted in various ways. Some see in it evidence for the provisioning of a burial in KV49, others suggest the tomb was used as a storage for rags used as candles while others still suggest this tomb was used to restore the royal mummies during the time when the valley was dismantled and its occupants reburied in the royal caches. These three tombs are all located in the same general area as KV48 and KV49.