Alistair,

In a recent investigation in a pyramid, I found a hidden door, marked with symbols that translated to “Keep out – My rooms – No girls allowed”. When I opened it, I found a collection of greenish-gray creatures with big eyes that were totally dark and didn’t have any eyelids. They were bending over a sarcophagus, and when they saw me, they just stared. We stood there for like fifteen seconds, and then one of them came over and slowly closed the door without saying anything or blinking. Once they closed it, I could hear them whispering to each other.

What should I do? Should I inform the head of the dig? Is this bad?

Tut in Southern Egypt

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Tut,

Have you tried knocking? I mean this in the most sarcastic, dismissive way possible. If you keep blundering through places that don’t belong to you expecting the inhabitants to be long dead it’s really only a matter of time until you, in error, stumble on someone who has yet to be this way. While the traditional method in these circumstances is to hasten their progress to such a state, that seems rude at best. I’d advise that you apologize but in point of fact I wouldn’t want to hear someone robbing my house apologize as much as I’d want them to beat a hasty retreat.

Alternatively, you may have stumbled into a rival group of archaeologists/anthropologists/grave robbers, albeit with a broader level of interest than yourself. In that case, it’s more or less a free-for-all.

Alistair