It is unlikely that "forgotten" slaves would be there and, in fact, if you were able to lift apart the various stone blocks, you'd find a whole lot of nothing; not even mortar. The blocks were amazingly precise, especially given the time period in which they were constructed so no such binding agent was needed.

As for the use of slaves, that position is largely discredited, at least in the sense that massive slave labor was used exclusively to build the pyramids. Did slaves participate in the construction; more than likely, to be sure - Egypt was a slave holding society after all. But the majority of the labor was part of the obligation that peasants had to the Pharoahs. These pyramids took years and years to build, mostly because of their massive size and complex construction, but also because the labor was made up of farmers and the like.

THe workers lived in temporary villages - archeological evidence suggests that they had normal lives; children's toys were found as were the remnants of cookery and even scraps of pottery upon which notes would be scratched. The reason they think these were temporary is the lack of decoration or personalization. Temporary residences (like your college dorm or a hotel room) would not be worth customizing since you're not going to be there very long.

We can surmise that they were free, also, because there were work stoppages to protest things like a lack of eye make-up or the occasional flub with rations.

For more information (in a very accessible form)see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/pyramid_builders_01.shtml

Also see: http://harvardmagazine.com/2003/07/who-built-the-pyramids-html

Finally, see Terry Jones' Ancient Inventions (Love & Sex)

Sorry, not an answer but a related question for the experts.

What's the latest on the thoughts/theories/etc that say the Giza pyramids were not built with slave labor? Is that the general consensus among experts these days? I ask because the reading I've done lately suggests that it was mostly done by master craftsmen for a lot of the work, but also that farmers and other such people were also involved in the construction during their off seasons. Some writings also seem to indicate that the latter might have received benefits for their work, such as reduced taxes or even perhaps direct payment.

So it seems to me based on what I've read that slaves did not build the pyramids as so often said, but were they at all involved, perhaps handling some of the more menial type of work?