Secret tomb found under 'Indiana Jones' filming location in Petra

At the heart of the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, carved into pink sandstone cliffs, lies an elaborate monument known as the Khaznah, or the Treasury. And buried beneath that edifice, archaeologists recently discovered, is a tomb with at least 12 human skeletons and artifacts that are estimated to be at least 2,000 years old.

At the heart of the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, carved into pink sandstone cliffs, lies an elaborate monument known as the Khaznah, or the Treasury.

And buried beneath that edifice, archaeologists recently discovered, is a tomb with at least 12 human skeletons and artifacts that are estimated to be at least 2,000 years old.

Archaeologists led by Dr. Pearce Paul Creasman, executive director of the American Center of Research, unearthed the ancient tomb. The expedition was studying the Treasury after years of speculation that two tombs found below the left side of the monument in 2003 weren't the only secret underground chambers. But that theory had not been confirmed — until now.

Creasman and his team performed ground-penetrating radar — a remote sensing technique that uses radar pulses to detect underground objects — earlier this year to see whether the physical features on the left, where the original tombs were found, matched those on the right. The detections revealed strong similarities among the two sides, and it was the proof they needed to receive permission from the Jordanian government to dig beneath the Treasury.

At this point, Creasman contacted Josh Gates, host of Discovery Channel's "Expedition Unknown." "I think we've got something," Creasman said he told the explorer over the phone. 

With a film crew, the team excavated the newly uncovered tomb in August. But the real surprise was what lay within the tomb. While many tombs uncovered within Petra are found empty or disturbed, the chamber was filled with complete skeletal remains and grave goods made from bronze, iron and ceramic. The intact burial found beneath the Treasury provides rare insight into the lives of the Nabataeans, ancient Arabian nomads whose desert kingdom thrived during fourth century BC to AD 106, Creasman said.

"This is a hugely rare discovery — in the two centuries that Petra has been investigated by archaeologists, nothing like this has been found before," Gates said. "Even in front of one of the most famous buildings in the world … there are still huge discoveries to be made."