Archeologists have discovered three tombs that date around 2,000 years back in southern Egypt.

The tombs were found in burial grounds in the Al-Kamin al-Sahrawi area in Minya province, south of Cairo.

They are reported to contain a collection of different sarcophagi, or stone coffins, as well as clay fragments.

According to Egypt’s antiquities ministry, the discovery “suggests that the area was a great cemetery for a long span of time”.

One of the tombs, reached through a shaft carved in rock, contained four sarcophagi that had been sculpted to depict a human face.

In another, excavators found six burial holes, including one for the burial of a small child.

Clay fragments found at the site date the tombs between the 27th Dynasty, founded in 525BC, and the Greco-Roman era, which lasted between 332BC and the 4th Century.

Ali al-Bakry, head of the mission, said one of the tombs contained bones believed to be the remains of “men, women and children of different ages”.

In a statement, the antiquities ministry said that “works are under way in order to reveal more secrets”.