Yamagata researchers find additional 248 Nazca geoglyphs
Through the magic of artificial intelligence, Yamagata University announced the discovery of an additional 248 ancient geoglyphs depicting humans and animals in the Nazca Lines, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Peru.
University researchers made the announcement on July 28 after utilizing AI along with IBM Research of the United States.
The centuries-old etchings in the desert appear to have been arranged according to specific themes, possibly intended to convey stories or messages.
Yamagata University professor Masato Sakai, who led the research team, detailed the findings at a news conference held at the Peru Pavilion in the Osaka-Kansai Expo venue in Osaka.
'The geoglyphs were not randomly placed. By combining and aligning multiple geoglyphs, they may have served as a kind of 'media' intended to convey the faith and memory of the community,' he said.
Sakai, whose expertise is cultural anthropology, conducted a six-month field survey from 2023 to 2024.
The team found the 248 geoglyphs on the Nazca Plateau, which stretches about 20 kilometers (east-west) by 15 km (north-south). The average length of each geoglyph is around 10 meters.
Of the 248 newly discovered geoglyphs, 160 are figurative, depicting things such as a priest, a scene of decapitation and animal-like condors. In addition, 88 are geometric shapes.
These findings have brought the total of figurative geoglyphs to 893. Of the 893, 781 were discovered by Yamagata University's joint research project with IBM using aerial photographs.
What was notable about the latest research was that it revealed that certain geoglyphs were arranged along more than 100 narrow paths on the plateau, according to specific themes.
For example, one path features four geoglyphs themed around human sacrifice, including images of human heads, and a priest carrying a human head. Another included only depictions of domesticated animals such as llamas. There was also a path where there were only figures of birds of prey, such as condors.
From July 28 through the end of the expo, visitors can view a photo exhibition of the geoglyphs discovered by Yamagata University, along with videos introducing various geoglyphs, at the Peru Pavilion.
In early August, earthenware from the era when the Nazca culture flourished will be on display for the first time in Japan.
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