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New Technique Helps Archaeologists Decipher Ancient Languages

A conservationist works on a 1,500-year-old mosaic floor bearing Greek writing, discovered in Jerusalem's Old City. (Reuters)
A conservationist works on a 1,500-year-old mosaic floor bearing Greek writing, discovered in Jerusalem's Old City. (Reuters)
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New Technique Helps Archaeologists Decipher Ancient Languages

A conservationist works on a 1,500-year-old mosaic floor bearing Greek writing, discovered in Jerusalem's Old City. (Reuters)
A conservationist works on a 1,500-year-old mosaic floor bearing Greek writing, discovered in Jerusalem's Old City. (Reuters)

Developing an AI network can help scholars restore ancient Greek texts. Researchers at University of Oxford have recruited new deep learning techniques to decipher symbols of ancient languages.

The research team says there are many artifacts featuring important historical symbols and inscriptions that erode with time, noting that the clear inscriptions that archaeologists can read and understand are few.

In a test, where the AI attempted to fill the gaps in 2,949 damaged inscriptions, human experts managed to explain 30 percent of unclear symbols, whereas the network took two hours to decipher 50 inscriptions, reported the New Scientist website.

The team said the new network named "Pythia" is able to provide 20 different predictions to explain each eroded inscription, leaving the selection of the suitable hypothesis that correspond to the context of the ancient inscriptions to archaeologists.

In addition to providing various options, Pythia evaluates the reliability of each option or hypothesis it offers to archaeologists to help them reach the correct one.

"Pythia is the first electronic model used to restore ancient archaeological inscriptions by deciphering the eroded letters through deep learning networks," the study team wrote.

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Varieties

Study Sheds Light on Origin of Australia's Odd Echidna

A team of scientists believe many of the echidna's unusual traits were first developed millions of years ago when its ancestors splashed through the water. ROMEO GACAD / AFP
A team of scientists believe many of the echidna's unusual traits were first developed millions of years ago when its ancestors splashed through the water. ROMEO GACAD / AFP
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Study Sheds Light on Origin of Australia's Odd Echidna

A team of scientists believe many of the echidna's unusual traits were first developed millions of years ago when its ancestors splashed through the water. ROMEO GACAD / AFP
A team of scientists believe many of the echidna's unusual traits were first developed millions of years ago when its ancestors splashed through the water. ROMEO GACAD / AFP

Australia's burrowing echidna evolved from a water-dwelling ancestor in an "extremely rare" biological event, scientists said Tuesday in a new study of the peculiar egg-laying mammals.

With powerful digging claws, protective spikes and highly sensitive beaks, echidnas are well suited to a life shuffling through the forest undergrowth, AFP said.

But a team of Australian and international scientists believe many of the echidna's unusual traits were first developed millions of years ago when its ancestors splashed through the water.

"We're talking about a semiaquatic mammal that gave up the water for a terrestrial existence," said paleontologist Suzanne Hand, from the University of New South Wales.

"While that would be an extremely rare event, we think that's what happened with echidnas."

Echidnas and another Australian oddity, the semi-aquatic platypus, are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor called Kryoryctes cadburyi that lived in Australia more than 100 million years ago.

Researchers studied the single known bone fragment left by this ancestor, which was discovered among a trove of fossils at Dinosaur Cove in southern Australia some 30 years ago.

Platypus bones were similar to this ancient ancestor, Hand said, with a thick and heavy structure that provided ballast for diving.

Echidnas, in comparison, had very thin bone walls that made it easier to walk on land, Hand said.

This indicated echidnas were descended from a water-dwelling ancestor but had evolved to live on land, the research found.

It was far more common for prehistoric mammals to go from land to water, Hand said, pointing towards seals, whales, dolphins and dugongs.

The researchers said these findings appeared to be supported by other echidna traits.

Echidnas have backward-facing hind feet that help them shift mounds of soil when burrowing.

These feet may have first developed as rudders helping the echidna's ancestor navigate fast-moving waterways, Hand said.

Echidnas also have a "diving reflex" when submerged in water, which tells their body to conserve oxygen helping them hold their breath for longer.

Echidnas and platypus are monotremes, a rare group of mammals that lay eggs instead of live young.

"We're hoping we'll discover other ancestral monotremes that will help unravel the early history of this most fascinating group of mammals," said study co-author Michael Archer.

The research was published in peer-reviewed journal PNAS.