Archaeologists in Peru have been used artificial intelligence (AI) to uncover new lines of Nazca, these are hundreds of previously unknown geoglyphs that were drawed by the mysterious Nasca culture, living near more than a thousand of years ago.
Nazca Exploration gets An AI Facelift
Consider: A giant desert landscape where these ancient drawings of the earth, called geoglyphs, are so obvious to modern eyesAFP. Since then, thousands of these intricate markings have puzzled archaeologists — they are only visible in full from the sky.
However, a team of researchers have now used AI to unearth more geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert. The work of the researchers has allowed them to identify the faint traces of many more such ancient artworks by training an AI model, increasing by almost half those known geoglyphs in complete number for this region — a staggering peek at Nasca culture.
Discovering the Mysteries of the Nasca
Peru’s deserts are home to the enigmatic and beautiful geoglyphs of the Nasca culture, which flourished between 200 BCE and 700 CE. They created massive images, of humans and animals or even more abstract designs, using rocks to move the earth or by scraping through dark desert varnish to create a sharp visual contrast.
Previously, just 430 geoglyphs have been found and investigated but researchers believed that there were many more hiding beneath the ground. The problem, however, was that the marks were so numerous and faint that they would be imperceptible to the naked eye.
Using AI systems from IBM, the team at once developed an innovative tool that can spot even the most minute geoglyphic signals in satellite imagery of the desert floor. The researchers trained the model on existing geoglyphs and then turned it loose in the Nazca Pampa, and what they found was awe-inspiring. The searches succeeded in verifying 303 previously undocumented geoglyphs, depicting a menagerie of human and animal figures as well as abstract shapes.
Conclusion
The identification of the hundreds of new geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert represents a breakthrough for our comprehension of the Nasca culture. AI has helped archaeologists bring to life many of the secrets of the remote past, revealing some aspects of these civilizations in more detail such as their intricate and sophisticated art. The research team will stay busy using their AI-empowered tools to further delve and reveal the secrets that have for generations mystified scholars and ordinary people alike as they explore even deeper in the region.
