With the help of AI Japanese researchers discover hundreds of new Nazca lines
With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), Japanese researchers in Peru have discovered 303 previously unknown Nazca lines. This almost doubles the number of previously known earth drawings in the Nazca Desert that are around 2000 years old.
24.09.2024, 11:52
25.09.2024, 22:12
SDA
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- It has taken researchers more than a hundred years to discover around 430 gigantic scarified images in the Nazca Desert in Peru.
- With the help of AI, 303 new ones have now been identified in just six months.
- The Nazca lines cover an area of several hundred square kilometers. Why the images were created remains a mystery to this day.
Until now, traditional research using high-resolution images had identified around 430 Nazca Lines - their discovery took almost a century. With the help of AI, "303 new geoglyphs" have now been discovered "in six months of field research", announced the Japanese researchers, whose results were also published on Monday in the renowned US scientific journal "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences".
"The use of artificial intelligence in research has enabled us to map the geoglyphs faster and more precisely," said archaeologist Masato Sakai at the presentation of the results at the Japanese embassy in Peru's capital Lima. "The traditional surveying method of visually identifying geoglyphs using high-resolution images of this vast area was slow," he explained. In addition, there was a high risk of overlooking the scarps.
Drawings of animals and people
According to the information, the newly discovered figures include "huge geoglyphs of a linear type". These depicted "mainly wild animals". However, there are also "patterns associated with human activity, including humans and domesticated animals".
The Nazca lines are so-called scratched images of enormous dimensions that were scratched into the sandy desert soil. They were created between 500 BC and 500 AD by the Nazca culture in the south of what is now Peru and depict animals, stylized plants, fantasy figures or geometric shapes. The Nazca Lines cover an area of several hundred square kilometers.
Why the images were created remains a great mystery to this day. It is possible that they were used for ceremonial purposes. In 1994, the UN cultural organization Unesco declared the Nazca Lines a World Heritage Site.