Exploration of the Valley of the Kings Carter to explore it. After a systematic search they discovered the actual tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in November 1922. At the end of the century, the Theban Mapping Project re-discovered and explored tomb KV5, which has since been discovered to be probably the largest in the valley (having at least 120 rooms) and was either a cenotaph or real burial for the sons of Ramesses II. Elsewhere in the eastern and western branches of the valley, several other expeditions cleared and studied other tombs. Until 2002 the "Amarna Royal Tombs Project" explored the area around KV55 and KV62, the Amarna
Minor tombs in the Valley of the Kings had been intended to contain a human burial or not: KV50 contained fragmentary remains of a wooden coffin and KV52 an empty canopic chest. KV51 contained material which was dated to the Eighteenth dynasty, a dating which is ascribed to all three of these closely related tombs. It has also been suggested (although there is no real evidence to support this theory) that the animals interred here were a king's pets and that, given the proximity of his tomb (KV35), this king might have been Amenhotep II. KV53 is located north of KV29. It was discovered by Ayrton in 1905