C2 Project. The Royal Cache Wadi Survey. 2017 Season

Abstract

Since the discovery of the royal mummies in 1881, and in accordance with the conclusions of the Lansing campaign in 1920, the Royal Cache Wadi (or C2 Valley) on the West Bank at Luxor has been assumed to be archaeologically deserted. Since 2017, the C2 Project of Universidad Complutense of Madrid has returned to the site in order to explore the valley as a whole, not as though it were defined exclusively by the cache tomb TT 320. The results of the Project’s research to date challenge the interpretation of the Wadi either as archaeologically deserted or exclusively as an ancient hiding place, insofar as evidence of human activity indicates that other elements of the valley were significant in antiquity.