'Overlooked' clue on Tutankhamun's death mask could change everything known about him

The death mask of boy King Tutankhamun is one of the most recognisable and famous relics from Ancient Egypt, but our understanding of it might be about to change.

A team at the University of York lead by Professor Joann Fletcher came to a shocking conclusion on the iconic headpiece.

Tutankhamun is one of the most well-known pharaohs of his time, becoming the rule of Egypt aged just nine and was only at the helm for 10 years (1332 BC to 1323 BC) before his sudden death, after a life plagued by health issues.

His death mask was originally discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922, but 102 years on, Professor Fletcher has uncovered something new.

The mask is now kept in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but while looking through Carter's burial records held at Oxford University's Griffith Institute, Fletcher discovered a specific detail about it.

Most people are familiar with the pharaoh's death mask (Mostafa Elshemy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Speaking during the All Out History documentary, she revealed: "This mask was not made for an adult male pharaoh when the gold was compared, (they found) the face is made of completely different gold to the rest."

Her team came to this theory after re-examining existing records of the 1922 excavation, which included information of body modifications that didn't line up with ancient Egyptian tradition.

One document stood out to Fletcher, as it read: "Honed in on one long-overlooked feature... the decidedly pierced ears (on the death mask)."

Pharaohs did where earrings, but these piercings did not carry to the death mask, only dead children and queens were allowed to bear these details.

It was first suggested in 2015 by Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, who theorised that the gold face covering was actually made for the young king's stepmother, Queen Nefertiti, whose body and tomb have never been found.

Death masks were not made just for pharaohs, but everyday people too, honouring the dead and making connections with the spiritual world.

These could vary in material, depending on the status of the person, while being made in the likeness of the person's face so that their soul could return to their body and be judged by the Egyptian God Anubis.

King Tutankhamun's mask had a collar of semiprecious stones and coloured beads, while being given a false beard of gold.

It is theorised that Tutankhamun's burial was a rushed job (Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)

But Professor Fletcher initially wanted to find out more, as the ear piercings on the piece caught her eye, with the Egyptologist studying the ancient civilisation throughout her career.

Previous pharaohs did not have ear modifications or ear piercings on their death masks, while queens' death masks have featured these modifications.

Fletcher said that this could be due to the fact that his burial was rushed due to health issues, as Akhenaten married his sister, who gave birth to Tut.

His health at the time of his death has not been confirmed, but clues of a rushed burial go beyond the death mask.

Archaeologists found blotches of paint on the wall that hadn't dried when the tomb had been sealed, while the lavish burial was smaller than what was expected for a pharaoh of Tutenkhamun's status.

Professor Fletcher further added: "This is the tomb that was intended for Tutankhamun, the tomb of Ay,

"To deepen the enigma, dark spots are scattered across the walls of King Tut's tomb marks that scores of experts point to as a sign the paint was still wet when the tomb was sealed, hinting at the hurried nature of its completion," she said.