Scientists uncover second 'hidden city' beneath Egypt's Giza pyramids
Scientists who claimed earlier this year to have found a massive subterranean city under the Pyramids of Giza now say they have unearthed a second city.
The team of Italian researchers, who claimed they found huge underground structures below the Khafre pyramid in March, now say they've found more evidence of a second 'hidden city'.
These new subterranean structures, apparently found underneath the Mankaure pyramid, could 'prove' the existence of a massive subterranean complex which links the three Giza pyramids thousands of feet below the surface.
The announcement sparked controversy amongst archaeologists and Egyptologists, who said the unverified claims are 'a total scam' and argued the technology used isn't able to penetrate deeply enough into the ground.
The Pyramids of Giza, along with the Great Sphinx, are located west of Egypt's capital Cairo, and the methods used to build the huge structures are still shrouded in mystery thousands of years on.
Filippo Biondi, co-author of the research, told MailOnline their data shows a 90% probability that the Menkaure shares the same pillars as Khafre.
'Objective analysis of the tomography data, which, as experimental measurements, strongly indicate that the structures we identified beneath Khafre are also present under Menkaure,' Filippo said.
'We firmly believe that the Giza structures are interconnected, reinforcing our view that the pyramids are merely the tip of the iceberg of a colossal underground infrastructural complex.
'This network likely consists of a dense system of tunnels linking the main subterranean structures.
'The measurements reveal pillar-like structures with consistent characteristics.
'Given that Menkaure is smaller than Khafre, we believe the number of pillars is likely even but fewer than those under Khafre.'
It's estimated there are eight pillars under Khafre pyramid, which are estimated to be more than 2,000ft long and feature spiral-like structures.
The researchers say finding similar pillars underneath Mankaure pyramid support their theory that a 'megastructure' hides thousands of feet underneath the sands.
When asked about the purpose of the hidden structures, Filippo said: 'At this stage, we're still gathering information to thoroughly study the matter, but we can confidently say that the operation of this structure likely involves the natural elements: air, water, fire and earth. More Trending
'Discoveries like these under Menkaure challenge us to rethink our understanding of ancient Egyptian history and humanity's past, opening new perspectives on our origins and capabilities.'
Archaeologists estimate the three Pyramids of Giza are about 4,500 years old, but Filippo and his team theorise these pillar structures could have been built by a lost ancient civilisation about 38,000 years ago.
They suggest a highly advanced prehistoric society was wiped out by a global cataclysm, possibly caused by a comet impact, around 12,800 years ago.
But some have drawn comparison to conspiracy theories that it was in fact aliens who built the pyramids.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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'But we have some good reasons to suspect that Denisovans lived across quite a wide geographic range, from Siberia into Indonesia, and they may have been in many different environmental settings. 'I wouldn't be surprised if they are as variable in body size and shape as people living across the same range of geographies today.' THE DENISOVANS EXPLAINED Who were they? The Denisovans are an extinct species of human that appear to have lived in Siberia and even down as far as southeast Asia. The individuals belonged to a genetically distinct group of humans that were distantly related to Neanderthals but even more distantly related to us. Although remains of these mysterious early humans have mostly been discovered at the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in Siberia, DNA analysis has shown the ancient people were widespread across Asia. Scientists were able to analyse DNA from a tooth and from a finger bone excavated in the Denisova cave in southern Siberia. The discovery was described as 'nothing short of sensational.' In 2020, scientists reported Denisovan DNA in the Baishiya Karst Cave in Tibet. This discovery marked the first time Denisovan DNA had been recovered from a location that is outside Denisova Cave. How widespread were they? Researchers are now beginning to find out just how big a part they played in our history. DNA from these early humans has been found in the genomes of modern humans over a wide area of Asia, suggesting they once covered a vast range. They are thought to have been a sister species of the Neanderthals, who lived in western Asia and Europe at around the same time. The two species appear to have separated from a common ancestor around 200,000 years ago, while they split from the modern human Homo sapien lineage around 600,000 years ago. Last year researchers even claimed they could have been the first to reach Australia. Aboriginal people in Australia contain both Neanderthal DNA, as do most humans, and Denisovan DNA. This latter genetic trace is present in Aboriginal people at the present day in much greater quantities than any other people around the world. How advanced were they? Bone and ivory beads found in the Denisova Cave were discovered in the same sediment layers as the Denisovan fossils, leading to suggestions they had sophisticated tools and jewellery. Professor Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, said: 'Layer 11 in the cave contained a Denisovan girl's fingerbone near the bottom but worked bone and ivory artefacts higher up, suggesting that the Denisovans could have made the kind of tools normally associated with modern humans. 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