User:SchoolAssignmentYR23/Valley of the Queens

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The Valley of the Queens (Arabic: وادي الملكات Wādī al-Malekāt) is a site in Egypt, in which queens, princes, princesses, and other high ranking officials were buried. Pharaohs themselves were buried in the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Queens was known anciently as Ta-Set-Neferu, which has a double meaning of "The Place of Beauty" and/or "the Place of the Royal Children". Excavation of the tombs at the Valley of the Queens was pioneered by Ernesto Schiaparelli and Francesco Ballerini in the early 1900s.

Geology
The Valley of the Queens is on a geological array of limestones, marls, clays, chalks, and shale. The clays in the valley have undergone expansion and shrinkage due to recurrent flash-flooding throughout the valley. This shrinkage has been one cause of unstable tomb construction and later tomb damage in the valley. Rockslides resulting from shrunk clay deposits and tectonic events have damaged not only the tombs of the valley but also the wall paintings within them.

The current landscape of the Valley of the Queens was built through faulting and subsequent slumping during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Thus, the original horizontal stratigraphy of the area has been subject to tilting. This tilting has revealed deposits of minerals like anhydrite, gypsum, and halite. Salt from halite in the ground is also damaging to the paintings within tombs. Seeping groundwater has permeated the tombs and is the cause of the dissolved and recrystallized salt.

Gypsum, along with clay, is most often believed to be the plasters used in ancient Egypt. Due to the lack of data, however, it is hard to determine what exactly composes the ancient plasters. Such beliefs are contested because of variations of plaster color, hardness, and amount used in a particular tomb.

Threats to Conservation
Conservation efforts in the Valley of the Queens happen in multiple ways. Some large concerns for the site include protection against mass tourism and a concoction of other natural risks.

Mass Tourism
With the rise of the tourism industry, affects humans have on archaeological sites is becoming a topic of interest for preservation teams. The relatively small size and delicate ecosystem of many of the Valley of the Queens tombs are threatened by human interaction. An off balance of humidity and CO2 from humans contributes to the continued degradation of tombs and the art within them. Other factors that lead to tomb deterioration are graffiti, touching, and head bumping due to small spaces.

Light fixtures installed in some of the tombs for better viewing are also a threat to conservation efforts in the area. Large amounts of lint from visitors' clothes stays in the air and settles on tomb floors and other fixtures, creating an increased fire hazard. As lint settles on the modern light fixtures, the likeliness of combustion increases.

Steps taken to combat and limit affects on Valley of the Queens tombs from tourism comprise of building walled paths that control tourist traffic, constructing shelters at some of the more popular tombs such as QV 66 - Nefertari's tomb. Other methods used to preserve Nefertari's tomb are a viewing time limited to 15 minutes, separate ticket purchase, and the addition of an air-circulation system to the tomb. As for other tombs, plexiglass shields and wooden floors have been installed to protect the entombed and their resting places.

Animal Populations
Commonly located in open tombs in the Valley of the Queens is small to large bat colonies. Although beneficial for the natural ecosystem, bats are detrimental to the tombs, the wall paintings, and the health of tourists in the valley. Urine and feces from bats damages the rocks, plasters, and paints used for tomb construction and decoration. Also stemming from bat excrement is the increased possibility of visitors getting histoplasmosis. Contact with bat populations also increases the possibility of bat bites and rabies transmission.

In an attempt to limit bat occupation of certain tombs, instillation of doors and has been proposed. Bat populations must be removed from the tombs before any preventative measures can be taken. Due to ecological importance, some tombs have been selected to remain open to bat colonies. Tombs selected are as follows: QV 15, QV 48, AND QV 78.