As difficult as it is to put into words, but I have a foot in both camps. My upbringing fundamentally tells me its not right to disturb the dead, and the scientist in me sees this as a tremendous opportunity to see into the past and help illuminate an ancient culture that had such a far reaching impact on the world. Vikings were after all, the very first caucasians to set foot in North America when Leaf Ericsson landed in Lance aux Meadows in Newfoundland, and that's just one of many examples in the world.

Speaking as a geologist, there are some non-invasive techniques that can be used to help here. Shallow reading magnetic and gravitational surveys, very low-charge seismic techniques that may help depending on depth, and certainly ground penetrating radar. The latter is likely where the drawing originated from, if its a factual representation of whats at this site, and not from another site or just an artist rendering for yahoo. However, there are severe limitations on the resolution of these techniques, and they would not be able to determine anything small or non-metallic. So, that leaves us with excavation.

The question really is, is it worth it to know? That's a question that steps into the ethical realm as well, as you are disturbing a grave site or tomb.

I always find it most helpful to ask the converse; what would be the drawbacks or limitations of human understanding if we didn't disturb these sites? The crypts below Norte Dame, below St. Pauls, below the Vatican and in particular St. Peters, the Myan Pyramids, the pantheon, countless texts, codexes, and scrolls both biblical and gnostic, the Great Pyramids at Giza, the Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbal, and the list can continue, would all be closed from our understanding... Tragedy.

These are priceless insights into how we as a species came to be where we are, and are very important for our understanding ourselves, and ultimately, to help guide us to where were going. In my humble opinion.