Sergey V. Vetokhov

Dating a considerable number of rock-cut Old Kingdom tombs in Giza necropolis, which have no pictorial material, no inscriptions and only repositioned ceramics, is one of the problems of Egyptology. The author proposes a new instrument for their dating, based on the analysis of spatial distribution of rock-cut tombs within the necropolis and its parts, as well as of some elements of their architecture (primarily tomb entrances). Some of the data used in the paper were gathered by the author during field work as a member of the Russian archaeological mission at Giza of the Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS (RAMG) on the Eastern plateau of Giza.