Japanese scientists have used artificial intelligence to discover 303 new geoglyphs in Peru’s Nazca Desert, doubling the known number of lines created by a pre-Inca civilization about 2,000 years ago.
The legendary Nazca Lines – a series of giant cuts into the desert floor depicting animals, plants, fantastical creatures and geometric shapes – have fascinated scientists since they were first discovered nearly a century ago.
Best viewed from the air, the line, located about 220 miles (350 kilometers) south of Lima, is one of Peru’s top tourist attractions.
“By using AI in our research, we can now map the distribution of geoglyphs more quickly and accurately,” said Masato Sakai, an archaeologist at Yamagata University, who announced the new discovery in Lima on Monday.
He said the discovery was the result of a collaboration between the university’s Nasca Institute and the research arm of technology company IBM.
“Traditional methods of visually identifying geoglyphs from high-resolution images of this vast area are time-consuming and risk missing some,” he added.
The study, also published Monday in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), describes how AI can be used to speed up archaeological discoveries, even at well-known sites.
It took almost a century to discover the Nazca Lines’ 430 drawings, the paper said.
Using AI, the scientists discovered an additional 303 species in just six months of field work.
The AI model was particularly good at detecting small relief-type geoglyphs that are hard to spot with the naked eye.
Among the newly discovered images were large linear geoglyphs, mostly depicting wild animals, but also smaller ones featuring abstract human figures and domesticated camelids, a mammal of the camel family.
Scientists used AI to analyze the vast amounts of geospatial data generated by the aircraft to identify areas where more geoglyphs might be found.
The Nazca civilization lived in southwestern Peru from 200 BC to 700 AD.
It is a mystery why this route, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built.
Some scientists believe they have astrological and religious significance.
The first geoglyphs were discovered in 1927.
ljc/cb/des
