What are the Nazca Lines?
The Nazca Lines (Líneas de Nazca) are located in the Secura Desert in southern Peru and date back to between 500 BC and 500 AD. They were discovered in 1939 by American archaeologist Paul Corso.
These giant geoglyphs were made by the Nazca civilization by removing surface pebbles, creating shallow incision patterns and exposing the soil underneath. The patterns include animals, plants, geometric shapes and imaginary creatures, and are considered to have religious significance. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
Since the Nazca Lines were first discovered in 1927, they have attracted countless scholars to study and explore. Traditional methods often rely on high-resolution aerial images and manual identification with the naked eye. However, this method is not only time-consuming, but also easy to miss. detail.
Recently, a team from Japan's Yamagata University and IBM published a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The team used AI technology to achieve the goal in just half a year (6 months). 303 new Nazca paintings were discovered, almost doubling the number of known patterns.
Scientists rely on AI to explore the Nazca Lines
This research was completed by a team led by Masato Sakai, an archaeologist at Yamagata University in Japan, and AI technology experts from IBM. The AI model analyzed a large amount of geospatial data generated by aircraft to quickly identify possible locations. area to be painted.
Compared with traditional human eye recognition, AI model analysis not only improves the speed of discovery, but also reduces the possibility of omission. The advantage of AI is that it can easily find relief-type ground paintings that are difficult to detect with the naked eye, and can even distinguish between multiple broken pieces. In aerial photos, complete geoglyph patterns are combined through calculations, and even some small geoglyphs that have blended in with the surrounding environment due to their age can be identified.
According to the report, these new paintings include a variety of wild animal images, such as birds, reptiles, and some strange abstract humanoid patterns. In addition, there are also some images of camelids domesticated by the Nazca civilization.
The origin and purpose of these geoglyphs are still a mystery. Some scholars believe that these geoglyphs may be related to astrology or religious rituals, or even a rain praying ceremony. Others believe that these patterns may be signals used by the Nazca civilization to mark underground water sources. No matter which theory is used, the mystery of the Nazca Lines still attracts the exploration of countless scientists and historians.
AI applications in archeology
The application of AI technology has not only brought breakthroughs to the research of the Nazca Lines, but also opened up new ideas for global archaeological research. Dr. Masato Sakai said that AI will help to explore on a larger scale and more deeply in the future. For those undiscovered ruins, the discovery of the Nazca Lines is just the beginning. There may be more secrets hidden in the Peruvian desert waiting for us to uncover in the future.
Through the powerful analysis capabilities of AI, archaeologists can conduct research more accurately, shorten the time to discover new ruins, and protect these historical heritages from human damage to the greatest extent during the exploration process.
