All of these discoveries have put Hierakonpolis on the map as a pre-eminent site for the study of the remains of the living at the dawn of history. However in recent years, due to the constant threats of land reclamation, the expedition has been exploring this sophisticated city by way of its cemeteries with remarkable results.

At the cemetery of the workers at HK43, the first experimentations with artificial mummification (c. 3500 BC) have been detected in Predynastic burials. The hands and head were padded with linen bundles and then wrapped in bandages. These may very well be Egypt's first mummies. These bandages have preserved the earliest evidence for hair extensions/hair weaving and well as the oldest documented use of henna to cover grey hair c. 3400 BC. Vanity is certainly not a new invention.

While in the cemetery of Hierakonpolis’ elite (HK6), Egypt’s first and only known elephant burial. c. 3600 BC has been unearthed. This wasn't the only large or exotic animal buried there and the burial of these animals gives us reason to suspect that at Hierakonpolis, the elite didn't just take their wealth with them, they took their entire world! Further exploration within this cemetery has revealed Egypt’s earliest masks. With cut out eyes and mouth, aquiline nose, these masks are essentially life-sized and curve to fit over a human face--whether in life or in death remains the intriguing question!

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