Jakarta –
Artificial intelligence (AI) was used to identify the ‘Nazca Lines’ geoglyphs carved in the southern Peruvian desert thousands of years ago. This colossal collection of ancient carvings depicts a pair of feet measuring 78 meters, a fish measuring 19 meters, and a bird measuring 17 meters.
This new research comes from a team at IBM Japan and Yamagata University who used a deep learning algorithm to scan through a large number of aerial photographs capturing parts of the Nazca Desert, a coastal desert in southern Peru famous for ancient artwork etched into it.
Using this technique, scientists claim they can sniff out potential geoglyphs about 21 times faster than with the naked eye. The AI model does this by quickly analyzing visual data and learning to understand which features are associated with certain categories, which in this case are the Nazca Desert geoglyph lines.
“Deep learning is a machine learning method that builds and trains neural networks, inspired by the interconnectedness of nerve cells in the brain, to allow computers to learn features from large amounts of data and then make predictions or decisions. This demonstrates high performance in tasks such as recognition images, speech processing, and natural language processing,” said a statement by Yamagata University about this research, quoted from IFL Science.
The four new Nazca geoglyphs identified by deep learning AI include a humanoid figure, a pair of legs, a giant fish and a bird-like symbol.
“Object detection through deep learning automatically identifies a certain class of objects from images and determines their location, size and classification. This is similar to the process humans use when detecting things like ‘dog’ or ‘cat’. But in this case, the computer did it,” the statement added.
The Nazca Lines are a group of geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert made between 500 BC and 500 CE. Hundreds of these mysterious carvings have been discovered over the last century. These ancient remains were made by carving depressions in the ground, which removed the reddish iron-rich topsoil to reveal a lighter colored subsoil.
Common natural motifs are found on the Nazca Lines, such as animals and plants. Some of the images are of a more supernatural nature, including a two-faced humanoid monster and a giant two-headed snake eating humans.
There has been much speculation as to why ancient people put so much effort into making these giant carvings. Some researchers theorize that they may have served as travel markers or had some sort of astronomical significance, while others have suggested they were works of art created for gods in heaven.
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2023-06-13 15:10:03
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