Robert W. O'B. Knox pointing to a coprolite-rich unit in El Mahmiya Member of the Esna Shale in the Hanadi area, south of Dababiya, Egypt, January 2007. The Esna Shale is part of the upper Paleocene–lower Eocene succession on the West Bank of the River Nile that houses the Theban Necropolis, built by the Pharaohs of the 18th to 20th Dynasties (c. 1539–1075 BCE) and a World Heritage Site since 1979. In one of two papers in this part that celebrate Robert's scientifi c achievements (see Editorial), Marie-Pierre Aubry and others, including Robert, discuss the role of geoarchaeology in the preservation and management of the Theban Necropolis. Photograph courtesy of Christian Dupuis.