Archaeologists have discovered two strange structures lurking beneath the ground next to the world-famous pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
Using radar and electrical technologies, a team of Japanese and Egyptian scientists discovered a mysterious 10m-long (33ft) L-shaped structure, approximately 2m (6.5ft) under the ground – as well as a larger, deeper structure sitting about 5–10m (16–33ft) underground.
It’s as yet unclear exactly what the structures are, but the researchers have suggested the L-shape could indicate an entrance to the deeper object below it, possibly a tomb.
These discoveries were made on a large empty stretch of ground in the middle of Giza’s 4,500-year-old western cemetery.
This sandy area has previously been overlooked during excavations as there are no structures that are visible from the surface. In contrast, the surrounding cemetery is littered with many aboveground, flat-roofed rectangular tombs made of stone or mudbricks, called mastabas.
In this study, published in Archaeological Prospection earlier in 2025, researchers used ground-scanning technologies called ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT).
GPR works by sending radar waves into the ground. When the waves hit a buried object, they bounce back to a detector on the surface. By measuring the travel time of the waves, scientists are able to create a 3D map of what lies underground.
Similarly, ERT works by sending electrical currents into the ground and measuring how easily the electricity travels through the different materials hidden beneath the surface.
Using these techniques, archaeologists are able to pinpoint changes in the composition of the ground and identify the shape and location of any anomalies.
But Dr Roland Enmarch, Egyptologist at the University of Liverpool – who was not involved in this research – told BBC Science Focus that we can’t yet know what these structures are or were.
“Until they actually go and dig in the area, it’s a bit difficult to really say much more about [the L-shaped structure], but it would not surprise me if it turned out to be a tomb of some sort,” he said. “Though it is not aligned with the extant mastaba-tombs visible on the surface.”
About the deeper anomaly, Enmarch said: “At present, there just isn’t enough information to know whether it is a natural feature or manmade.”
The researchers wrote that this deeper structure could simply be a mixture of sand and gravel or an air void.
Enmarch said: “I am really looking forward to hearing about the results of their excavations, to ‘ground truth’ their GPR observations.”
Read more:
- Strange skeleton discovery could rewrite our history of the pyramids
- We might finally know how the pyramids were built
- Mummy preserved with bizarre rectal embalming method discovered by archaeologists
About our expert
Dr Roland Enmarch is an Egyptologist at the University of Liverpool, UK. Enmarch's specialisms are Egyptian literary laments and quarrying and expeditionary inscriptions, particularly from alabaster quarries at Hatnub.
