Japan university researchers discover 168 additional Nazca Lines figures

YAMAGATA -- A team of researchers here has found 168 previously unnoticed aerially visible etchings, known as geoglyphs, at the Nazca Lines World Heritage site in Peru's Nazca Desert and areas around it, the group announced on Dec. 8.

The team from Yamagata University, including cultural anthropology and Andean archeology professor Masato Sakai, used drones and other methods to discover the markings. The newly discovered designs include human figures along with orca, bird and snake drawings as well as camellike and catlike figures.

The team collaborated with local archeologists and others between June 2019 and Feb. 2020 to uncover the pictures. In addition to drones, airborne laser scanning was used to gather data. An analysis unveiled the 168 figures, which are believed to have been etched into the ground sometime between about 100 B.C. and the year 300.

Yamagata University has been studying the Nazca Lines since 2004. In 2012, it stepped up its academic research with the establishment of the Yamagata University Institute of Nasca onsite in Nazca, Peru. Prior studies by the group up to 2018 uncovered 190 of the Nazca figures, bringing their total discoveries to 358. Currently, they are working with IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center to use artificial intelligence to study the distribution of the figures. The team will make use of the data gleaned from the latest discoveries, and hope to make progress into solving the mysteries of the Nazca Lines.

At a Dec. 8 press conference, Sakai expressed hope that the discovery would aid research, stating, "If we can confirm a pattern in the distribution of the figures, we may be able to understand the intentions behind their creation. This could be a step toward understanding for what purpose they were created."

(Japanese original by Shuichi Kanzaki, Yamagata Bureau)