Although ten of the Royal Tombs at Ur contained the remains of a central or primary individual, six of them were what Woolley called "grave pits" or "death pits" like this one. Woolley's "Grave Pits" were shafts leading down to the tombs and sunken courtyards built around the tomb or adjacent to it. The adjacent shafts and courtyards were filled with skeletons of retainers, most of them also dressed in jewels and carrying bowls.
The largest of these pits was called the Great Pit of Death, located adjacent to Queen Puabi's tomb and measuring 4 x 11.75 meters. Over seventy individuals were buried here, neatly laid out, wearing jewels and carrying bowls or cups. Bioarchaeological studies of these skeletons show that many of these people had labored hard during their lives, supporting Woolley's notion that some of these were servants, even if dressed in finery and perhaps attending a banquet on the last day of their lives.
Recent CT scans and associated studies of some of the servants' bodies have revealed that they were killed by blunt force trauma, then preserved with heat and mercury, then dressed in their finery and laid out in rows for the trip to the afterlife.
