How hundreds of mysterious Nasca lines have been uncovered—with the help of AI A century ago, scientists began to study enigmatic Nasca geoglyphs in Peru. Thanks to AI, the known number has nearly doubled, and these discoveries are providing new insights into what their messages meant. The discovery of geoglyphs in southern Peru has been supercharged by artificial intelligence (AI). In just six months, more than 300 new figures were identified, almost doubling the previously known number. Etched into the desert, the relief-type glyphs depict domesticated animals, anthropomorphic figures, and human heads. A team from Yamagata University’s Nasca Institute, led by archaeologist Masato Sakai and backed by the IBM Research center, trained an object-detection AI model with high-resolution imagery to refine their investigation into the distribution of geoglyphs in the Nasca desert. The newly identified glyphs are relatively small, and may have fulfilled roles quite different from those of the vast, sprawling geoglyphs that the Nasca desert is best known for. The latest findings are not only a striking addition to the catalog but also a vital aid in helping reveal part of the mystery surrounding these enigmatic designs. (Where should archaeologists dig next? The winners of this OpenAI contest can tell them.) A game changer The Nasca Lines are massive geoglyphs of animals, people, plants, and geometric designs that adorn the high desert of southern Peru. Examples of note include the famous depictions of a hummingbird, a spider, and a monkey with a long, spiraling tail. Thought to date to as early as 100 B.C., the well-known giant figurative geoglyphs average almost 300 feet in length, with some recognizable even from ground level. The latest discoveries are thought to date to roughly the same period and are, by contrast, about 30 feet in size, harder to detect, and tucked