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“Pyramid schemes” aren’t just for the wealthy.

Archaeologists have long theorized that Egyptian pyramid tombs were reserved for the elite. However, analysis of skeletons belonging to “extremely active” people might prove that they were dead wrong — and that poor physical laborers could’ve been interred there as well.

These findings, which were published in the Journal Of Anthropological Anthropology, could reshape how we view these ancient mausoleums.


  Nubian pyramids in the Sudan. “If these hard-working individuals are indeed of lower socioeconomic status, this counters the traditional narrative that the elite were exclusively buried in monumental tombs,” concluded the team. Felix Friebe – stock.adobe.com Nubian pyramids in the Sudan. “If these hard-working individuals are indeed of lower socioeconomic status, this counters the traditional narrative that the elite were exclusively buried in monumental tombs,” concluded the team. Felix Friebe – stock.adobe.com

“I think we have assumed for far too long that pyramids were just for the rich,” declared study author Sara Schrader, an archaeology professor at the University Of Leiden, Netherlands, according to New Scientist.

She worked for over a decade at the Tombos excavation site in South Sudan where archaeologists discovered at least five mud-brick pyramids containing pottery along with the aforementioned human remains.

This region was under Egyptian control 3,500 years ago when the civilization was at its zenith, but by this time, their aristocracy no longer favored pyramids as postmortem quarters — even though the Egyptian nobles still preferred them.

Schrader and her colleagues analyzed the remains at each pyramid, specifically focusing on subtle marks on the bones where muscles, tendons and ligaments were once attached so they could determine the level of physical activity.


  A diagram of the pyramids at the excavation site in Tombos. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology A diagram of the pyramids at the excavation site in Tombos. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

The team noted that some remains belong to people who had done very little physical activity during their lifetimes while others had been very active.

From this, the team deduced that “pyramid tombs, once thought to be the final resting place of the most elite, may have also included low-status high-labor staff,” per the study.


  Analysis of the remains at Tombos (pictured in this illustration) indicates varying levels of physical activity among the descendants. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology Analysis of the remains at Tombos (pictured in this illustration) indicates varying levels of physical activity among the descendants. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

They were operating under the theory that the low-activity individuals must have lived luxury while those with signs of wear and tear had a grueling life of labor, the Daily Mail reported.

“If these hard-working individuals are indeed of lower socioeconomic status, this counters the traditional narrative that the elite were exclusively buried in monumental tombs,” concluded the team.

They suggested that the higher-ranking individuals had specifically commissioned these pyramids for “themselves, close family members, and servants/functionaries,” perhaps under the belief that the latter could continue to serve the former in the afterlife.

Of course, some experts have floated alternate theories for the mixed-class burial. UK Egyptologist Aidan Dodson suggested that the high-activity individuals could have been nobles who exercised to maintain their status.

However, Schrader deemed this explanation suspect given the abundant evidence from other sites indicating that elites and non-elites had differing activity patterns.

She also threw cold water on a more sinister theory behind the postmortem status mingling.

“[Human] sacrifice had occurred in the region about 500 years prior,” she said, before noting that “there’s really no evidence for it by the time “Tombos was under ancient Egyptian control.”

Ultimately, the team concluded that digging deeper always brings the truth to light.

“With continued excavations, dating, and biomolecular analysis, interpretations of lived experience in the past can be completely altered,” they wrote.

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