Ancient Egyptians primarily had sex in the summer, new research reveals.

The most popular time for love-making was July and August meaning that 20 per cent more babies were born in March and April than in other months.

As a consequence, most deaths among women of childbearing age also occurred in these months.

Archaeologists working at a cemetery in the Dakhleh Oasis in Egypt excavated 765 graves and were able to establish the month of each person’s death because the graves were all pointed towards the rising sun.

Live Science reported that they uncovered the graves of 124 babies that had died 18 to 45 weeks after conception – putting these two pieces of information together enabled the researchers to piece together the most popular time for love-making.

It is thought that in ancient Egypt beliefs about fertility and the Nile flood may have been responsible for the baby booms.

The residents of the Dakhleh Oasis believed that the river was the key to their land’s fertility and the floods occurred during the summer months meaning that there were widespread celebrations.