Oct. 21, 2009 Ancient choices made by Egyptians digging burial
tombs may have led to today's problems with damage and curation
of these precious archaeological treasures, but photography and
detailed geological mapping should help curators protect the
sites, according to a Penn State researcher. "Previously, I
noticed that some tomb entrances in the Valley of Kings, Luxor,
Egypt, were aligned on fracture traces and their zones of
fracture concentration," said Katarin A. Parizek, instructor in
digital photography, department of integrative arts. "From my
observations, it seems that tomb builders may have intentionally
exploited these avenues of less resistant limestone when
creating tombs." Fracture traces are the above-ground indication
of underlying zones of rock fracture concentrations. They can be
between 5 and 40 feet wide, but average about 20 feet and can be
as long as a mile. Lineaments are similar geological features
that exceed one mile in length. Geologists suggest that fracture
traces are good loca