A Brown University archaeologist and two Vanderbilt University researchers have received $732,574 to develop an artificial intelligence tool that helps scholars search images for archaeological features across the Andes.
Brown archaeologist Parker VanValkenburgh is working with Vanderbilt University researchers Steven Wernke and Yuankai Huo on the DeepAndes Workbench, according to Brown's Nov. 2 announcement. Schmidt Sciences awarded the funding and will also provide computing support.
The project aims to let researchers search imagery using examples or verbal descriptions of buildings and other features, many built by the Wari, Inka and Spanish empires. Archaeologists would review the results and use their expertise to improve the models.
VanValkenburgh said the tool is not meant to know everything about Andean archaeology but to extend researchers' vision.
The work builds on GeoPACHA, which uses satellite imagery and AI to map and study archaeological sites across the Andes. Brown says the new team includes about 15 collaborators across institutions in the United States, Peru, Chile and Australia, as well as researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
