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 the construction of KV9 (tomb of Ramesses V and Ramesses VI) since the quarrying of that tomb collided with the rearmost chamber of KV12. Other than shabtis belonging to Ramesses VI that were discovered at the entrance of the tomb, no datable material has been found and nothing is known of its intended occupant or occupants. However, it seems likely that the tomb was used during the Nineteenth dynasty, and possibly the early Twentieth dynasty, for multiple burials of lesser royalty (like KV5). These burials might have been disturbed by workmen quarrying KV9 and the tomb was likely further despoiled