Egypt's world-famous archaeologist back in the field

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former head of antiquities, speaks in front of the Great pyramid, built by Cheops, known locally as Khufu in Giza, Egypt, Thursday, June 2, 2016. A scientific team scanning the Great Pyramid aimed at discovering the famed pharaonic monument's secrets including possible hidden burial chambers. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (The Associated Press)

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Dutch tourists visit the inside of the Great Pyramid, built by Cheops, known locally as Khufu in Giza, Egypt, Thursday, June 2, 2016. A scientific team scanning the Great Pyramid aimed at discovering the famed pharaonic monument's secrets including possible hidden burial chambers. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (The Associated Press)

Tourists pose for pictures at the entrance of the Great Pyramid, built by Cheops, known locally as Khufu in Giza, Egypt, Thursday, June 2, 2016. A scientific team scanning the Great Pyramid aimed at discovering the famed pharaonic monument's secrets including possible hidden burial chambers. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (The Associated Press)

CAIRO – Egypt's former antiquities minister and famed Egyptologist is back in the field after joining a group of experts scanning the pyramids for new discoveries.

Zahi Hawass says he hopes the new scanning technology, which uses subatomic particles known as muons to examine the 4,500 year-old burial structures, will help solve their remaining mysteries.

Late last year, thermal scanning identified some anomalies, including a major one in the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza outside Cairo.

Hawass was appointed Thursday to head a scientific committee to investigate the structures.

For more than a decade he was a celebrity starring in TV documentaries, but was dismissed after Egypt's 2011 uprising that toppled long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak and faced corruption charges, of which he was later cleared.