Japanese researchers discover 248 Nazca Line geoglyphs in Peru

A team of researchers at Yamagata University announced on Monday the discovery of 248 new Nazca Line geoglyphs in Peru. The geoglyphs, which include drawings of humans, birds and llamas, were drawn along footpaths used by people in ancient times, with each path depicting a different theme, the research team said. In cooperation with IBM, the team identified the geoglyphs through field surveys conducted from 2023 to 2024 on sites selected from aerial photographs using artificial intelligence technology. While one path features continuous images of priests holding human heads, or heads alone, another shows multiple depictions of llamas. The research team, which began work on the World Heritage drawings in 2004, has now identified a total of 893 geoglyphs.