Tomb size and type varied also as much with the fortunes of the times as with individual wealth and choice; in principle each ruler built his own mortuary complex, often on a new site. Many elite tombs were near those of their kings, and thus on different sites in succeeding generations. In terms of status, older cemeteries no doubt bore rather different meanings from current ones, and the discontinuities in location created by these patterns must have discouraged people from identifying with anything other than the most recent structures