8 Intriguing Archaeology Discoveries of 2024
From detecting lost cities of the Amazon to tracing our history with Neanderthals, these were among 2024's most fascinating discoveries.
By: Freda Kreier
Published: December 19, 2024
Lidar reveals ancient Amazon cities.
Antoine Dorison, Stéphen Rostai
While most digs continue to make extraordinary finds using the time-tested techniques and tools of archaeology, it's clear that newer technologies are changing what we know about the past. Ancient DNA, ground-sensing technology, and even artificial intelligence played a part in discoveries made in 2024. Here are some of the year’s biggest archeological stories.
1. Lost Cities of the Amazon
Lidar reveals ancient Amazon cities.
Antoine Dorison, Stéphen Rostai
Ground-sensing technology uncovered over 6,000 interconnected earthen platforms in Ecuador that date back 2,000 years.
The Amazon rainforest may look like a place of plenty, but growing food in this part of the world is hard. So it made sense that no one had ever found traces of ancient cities in the forest. That is until people started to spot strange shapes from the sky. In 2024, archeologists found the oldest urban settlements in the Amazon. LIDAR—a type of ground-sensing technology that can see through trees—uncovered over 6,000 interconnected earthen platforms in Ecuador that date back 2,000 years. These systems are like those built by the Maya in Guatemala and Mexico.
2. Hundreds More Nazca Lines
A 2024 A.I.-assisted study identified 303 previously unknown geoglyphs in the Peruvian desert.
Masato Sakai et al. / PNAS, 2024
A 2024 A.I.-assisted study identified 303 previously unknown geoglyphs in the Peruvian desert.
Aliens didn't make the Nazca lines. But artificial intelligence—or AI—sure makes them easier to find. The Nazca lines are a collection of hundreds of geometric earthworks in southern Peru. Some look like landing strips and run for kilometers. Others are shaped like animals or people. Pottery shards near these sites suggest they were made by pre-Columbian people between 100 B.C. and A.C. 1400. People have known about the existence of around 400 Nazca lines thanks to surveys that started in the 1940s. Archeologists added hundreds more to the mix in 2024 thanks to the scanning power of AI, which identified 303 more shapes in the region over just six months.
https://www.history.com/news/archaeology-discoveries-2024
