Everything but the kitchen sink In past times people were often buried with the things they would need in the afterlife Even the poorest people were sometimes buried with a cooking pot or other everyday object In the tombs of wealthy or noble people the objects considered necessary for the afterlife included furniture weapons armor jewelry food TREASURE TROVES Some of the tombs unearthed in the past have been full of spectacular treasures The ancient Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamun was buried in a gold sarcophagus and his tomb contained his golden throne chariot and countless other amazing objects In the 1870s excavations to find the tomb of the mythological Greek king Agamemnon
unearthed a treasure trove of golden objects including cups swords crowns and a golden death mask This golden death mask was found at Mycenae Greece in 1876
BOOBY TRAPS AND CURSES Over the centuries despite the best attempts of the tomb builders to stop them thieves and robbers have plundered many tombs In ancient Egypt the builders of the great pyramids where pharaohs kings were buried tried lots of tricks to keep the robbers out Entrances into the Egyptian tombs were hidden and sealed Inside there were secret passages concealed doors and dead ends Razor-sharp wires laid as traps across tunnels were capable of slicing a thief s head off If the robbers did get into the tomb itself grim curses doomed them to terrible punishments in the afterlife
None of this seemed to stop their missions to steal though Eye in the sky Some places are difficult to explore on the ground Lots of ancient remains are in hot deserts or in countries that are dangerous to visit Using photographs taken from airplanes and satellite images archaeologists can spot possible sites from marks and patterns on the ground that can only be seen from the sky Of course if they want to find out more they still have to get to the site and explore further
