'In recent years, the Osiris Shaft has been studied by Zahi Hawass. He was responsible for lifting the lid of the sarcophagus. Hawass was unable to be certain of a date for the shaft. When I suggested to him that we might be able to date the stone sarcophagi in the shaft by our new techniques, he was enthusiastic and gave us permission to descend into the shaft in order to obtain samples. We are very grateful to Hawass for allowing this access personally'