NASA Book Argues Archaeology Can Help Decode Alien Signals

Green Bank 100m diameter Radio Telescope (West Virginia, USA).

January

/ 2026

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If a genuine extraterrestrial signal ever arrives, the hard part may not be detecting it, but understanding what it means. That is the central idea behind a NASA History Series book that explores how archaeologists and anthropologists - experts at interpreting fragmentary traces of vanished cultures - might help the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). The surprising update is that, despite early claims that NASA “pulled” the publication after media confusion, the book is now hosted openly on NASA’s website, complete with official downloads.

A NASA History Series volume, not a sensational “aliens did it” claim

The story first circulated widely after an Ancient Origins report, “NASA book explores how archaeology could contribute to understanding Extra-terrestrial Communication,” described a new NASA volume edited by Douglas A. Vakoch, then Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute, draws parallels between deciphering ancient scripts and interpreting possible interstellar messages.

NASA’s own official page describes the book as an effort to broaden SETI thinking beyond a purely technical problem, raising questions about whether “meaningful communication” would actually be straightforward.

Titled ‘Archaeology, Anthropology and Interstellar Communication’, the book is a collection of chapters by different authors who explore latest research regarding the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

In the opening introduction, Vakoch sets out how the field of archaeology can contribute to this search:

“As we search for analogies to contact at interstellar distances, archaeology provides some intriguing parallels, given that its practitioners – like successful SETI scientists – are charged with reconstructing long-lost civilizations from potentially fragmentary evidence”.

Maya glyphs photographed at Palenque.

Maya glyphs photographed at Palenque. (Wolfgang Sauber/ CC BY-SA 3.0)

Anthropologist Ben Finney and historian Jerry Bentley draw a comparison between the decoding of ancient scripts, including Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphics, and how we may be able to understand and possibly communicate with an extraterrestrial civilization, particularly through the ‘universal language’ of mathematics and astronomy. For example, when scholars began decoding ancient Mayan hieroglyphs, their earliest successes were in recognizing the basic numbering system used by the Maya, as well as their calendar systems, which were based on the visible motions of the Moon and Sun.

“Math and science provided the foundation for communication, just as many SETI scientists have predicted will be the case for interstellar communication,” wrote Vakoch.

This is one reason ancient scripts are such a useful mirror for interstellar communication.

Decoding alien messages: why archaeology is the analogy NASA chose

The NASA book argues that SETI researchers could face a situation similar to archaeologists reconstructing societies from incomplete evidence: an interstellar signal might be detected, but its cultural content could remain opaque. The volume’s introduction explicitly frames this as a problem of reconstructing distant civilizations, separated by space and time, much like archaeology reconstructs the human past.

The Dalgarven Mill cup and ring mark stone replica,

The Dalgarven Mill cup and ring mark stone replica, Kilwinning, North Ayrshire. (Rosser1954/CC BY-SA 4.0)

Rock art, cup-and-ring marks, and the limits of interpretation

A flashpoint in the original media frenzy involved a misunderstanding: some outlets implied NASA was “announcing” ancient rock art was extraterrestrial. But the point presented is more subtle - rock art can be used as a thought experiment about the way we interpret symbols when we lack context.

The part that was confused comes in the book's last chapter, "Constraints on Message Construction for Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence." William H. Edmondson, senior research fellow at the University of Birmingham in England, draws upon an analogy by suggesting that ancient rock art may be an example of the type of symbolic communication that would be used by extraterrestrial civilizations and studying rock art could therefore help us understand possible communication from an extraterrestrial intelligence.

"It is helpful to review some parallels from human existence that pose problems for us today," wrote Edmondson. "One of these is "rock art," which consists of patterns or shapes cut into rock many thousands of years ago. Such ancient stone carvings can be found in many countries.”

Edmondson maintains that posing the idea that ancient markings were created by aliens is helpful for reframing the way we go about searching for signals from other worlds - and how we make contact.

"We can say little, if anything, about what these patterns signify, why they were cut into rocks, and who created them," he wrote. "For all intents and purposes, they might have been created by aliens."

That ambiguity is familiar to readers of prehistoric rock art. Scotland’s cup-and-ring marks, for example, are still debated, and Ancient Origins has previously covered attempts to study major carved stones such as the Cochno Stone.

Cup and ring marked stone.

Cup-and-ring-marked rock near to Cairnbaan, Argyll And Bute, Scotland. (Anne Burgess)

Denning’s caution: information is not meaning

However, there is an important warning from archaeologist and anthropologist Kathryn Denning: even if you can measure the complexity of a signal, that does not automatically tell you what it means. And unlike classic codebreaking between humans, an extraterrestrial message comes without any guarantee of shared language or shared assumptions.

In other words, the “Rosetta Stone moment” may never come.

The key update: NASA hosts the book openly

A major claim in the older media cycle was that NASA removed the book and related materials. Whatever happened during the original wave of reporting, the current reality is clear: NASA now provides an official landing page with download formats, and the PDF is directly accessible on nasa.gov.

NASA also lists the book on its “NASA and SETI” history page and notes continued NASA interest in astrobiology and technosignatures, even after Congress canceled NASA’s formal SETI program in the early 1990s. (That page shows a “Last Updated” of Jan 05, 2026.)

Why this matters now: NASA’s technosignature era

While the original story framed the debate as SETI and messaging, NASA’s current SETI-history material emphasizes technosignatures - possible signs of technology that might show up in astronomical observations.

Ancient Origins has also covered modern technosignature thinking, including proposed atmospheric industrial gases as possible “telltale signs” of technology-using life.

Top image: Green Bank 100m diameter Radio Telescope (West Virginia, USA). Source: Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI/ CC BY 3.0

By Gary Manners