GIS Virtual Reconstructions of the Temporal and Spatial Relations of Fossil Deposits at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)

Birkenfeld, Michal; Avery, D. Margaret; Horwitz, Liora Kolska

doi:10.1007/s10437-015-9209-4

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Three‐dimensional surveys of cave sites are increasingly employed throughout Europe (Brown, Chalmers, Saigol, Green, & D'errico, ; Lerma, Navarro, Cabrelles, & Villaverde, ; Grussenmeyer, Alby, et al, ; Núñez, Buill, & Edo, ; Tyree, McCoy, Frey, & Stamos, ). Three‐dimensional projects have been undertaken in South Africa at sites such as Gladysvale (Häusler, Isler, Schmid, & Berger, ), Swartkrans (Nigro, Ungar, de Ruiter, & Berger, ), Wonderwerk Cave (Birkenfeld, Avery, & Horwitz, ; Rüther et al, ), and Pinnacle Point (Herries & Fisher, ) and the scanning of the Stw573 “littlefoot” fossil at Sterkfontein (Subsol et al, ). However, many of these early studies were undertaken using a standard total station, which is time‐consuming and results in limited 3D outputs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques for documenting fossil‐bearing palaeokarst with an example from the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa

Armstrong

Blackwood

Penzo‐Kajewski

et al. 2017

Archaeological Prospection

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This paper presents the results of a recent three-dimensional (3D) survey at the Drimolen Makondo palaeontological deposits in the Hominid Sites of South Africa UNESCO World Heritage site. The Drimolen Makondo is a palaeokarstic feature that consists of a heavily eroded 2.6-2.0 Ma fossil-bearing palaeocave remnant. With photogrammetry and a laser scan survey, two 3D site models were created, georectified, and imported into geographical information system software. This paper outlines both of these survey techniques and provides an assessment of the relevant merits of each method and their applicability for detailed recording and archival documentation of palaeokarstic palaeontological and archaeological sites. Given the complex depositional context of many of the fossil-bearing South African cave systems and their importance for understanding our evolutionary history, new methods are critical to visualising and analysing 3D spatial data. The utility of 3D models lies in their ability to integrate with total station survey techniques to accurately record and control excavations and provide a means of visualising stratigraphic, sedimentary, and spatial contexts in various geographical information system platforms. The use of low-cost and time-efficient digital photographic surveys to create accurate 3D models, if completed accurately, can provide researchers with a means of contextualising excavation data without the need for expensive and highly specialised equipment.The development of this method combined with differential global positioning systems provides a solution in more remote locations to recording highly accurate fossil and 3D site contexts with increasing ease. It also allows the sites to be recorded as part of an evolving landscape rather than as single isolated localities. This technique should be a standard technique implemented when working on irreplaceable UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the hominin-bearing caves of South Africa.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Terrestrial laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques for documenting fossil‐bearing palaeokarst with an example from the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa

Armstrong

Blackwood

Penzo‐Kajewski

et al. 2017

Archaeological Prospection

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show abstract

“…While the use of spatial aids e.g. geographic information system (GIS), remote sensing and photogrammetry for visualising landscapes has a strong history in archaeology (Gibbons 1991;Lock & Stancic 1995;Birkenfeld et al, 2015;de la Torre et al, 2015;Fernández-Lozano et al, 2016;Jorayev et al, 2016;Dell'Unto et al, 2017) its application to palaeoanthropology and palaeontology has previously been acknowledged as lagging (Conroy et al, 2008;Anemone et al, 2011). These methods are wide reaching and can be applied on a landscape scale e.g.…”

Section: <>mentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #2 of "Combining legacy data with new drone and DGPS mapping to identify the provenance of Plio-Pleistocene fossils from Bolt’s Farm, Cradle of Humankind (South Africa) (v0.1)"

2019

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The site is a complex of active caves and more than 20 palaeokarst deposits or pits, many of which were exposed through the action of lime mining in the early 20 th Century. The pits represent heavily eroded cave systems, and as such associating the palaeocave sediments within and between the pits is difficult, especially as little geochronological data exists. These pits and the associated lime miner's rubble were first explored by palaeoanthropologists in the late 1930s, but as yet no hominin material has been recovered. The first systematic mapping was undertaken by Frank Peabody as part of the University of California Africa Expedition (UCAE) in 1947-1948. A redrawn version of the map was not published until 1991 by Basil Cooke and this has subsequently been used and modified by recent researchers. Renewed work in the 2000s used Cooke's map to try and relocate the original fossil deposits. However, Peabody's map does not include all the pits and caves, and thus in some cases this was successful, while in others previously sampled pits were inadvertently given new names. This was compounded by the fact that new fossil bearing deposits were discovered in this new phase, causing confusion in associating the 1940s fossils with the deposits from which they originated; as well as associating them with the recently excavated material. To address this, we have used a Geographic Information System (GIS) to compare Peabody's original map with subsequently published maps. This highlighted transcription errors between maps, most notably the location of Pit 23, an important palaeontological deposit given the recovery of well-preserved primate crania (Parapapio,

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“…Within cave environments, laser scanning (combined with GIS data) has been applied to spatial reconstructions and mapping, often in conjunction with conventional spatial survey. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][29][30][31][32] Three-dimensional data can also be used in the reconstruction of previously worked sites which were excavated before technology such as terrestrial laser scanning existed. In one such case study, Puchol and colleagues 5 virtually recreated an archaeological excavation site using three-dimensional laser scan data and integrating the data with previously recorded archaeological data, to analyse the spatial context from over 60 years earlier.…”

Section: Volume 112 | Number 5/6mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multimodal spatial mapping and visualisation of Dinaledi Chamber and Rising Star Cave

Krüger¹,

Randolph-Quinney²,

Elliott³

2016

S. Afr. J. Sci.

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The Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star Cave has yielded 1550 identifiable fossil elements – representing the largest single collection of fossil hominin material found on the African continent to date. The fossil chamber in which Homo naledi was found was accessible only through a near-vertical chute that presented immense practical and methodological limitations on the excavation and recording methods that could be used within the Cave. In response to practical challenges, a multimodal set of recording and survey methods was thus developed and employed: (1) recording of fossils and the excavation process was achieved through the use of white-light photogrammetry and laser scanning; (2) mapping of the Dinaledi Chamber was accomplished by means of high-resolution laser scanning, with scans running from the excavation site to the ground surface and the cave entrance; (3) at ground surface, the integration of conventional surveying techniques as well as photogrammetry with the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle was applied. Point cloud data were used to provide a centralised and common data structure for conversion and to corroborate the influx of different data collection methods and input formats. Data collected with these methods were applied to the excavations, mapping and surveying of the Dinaledi Chamber and the Rising Star Cave. This multimodal approach provides a comprehensive spatial framework from individual bones to landscape level

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GIS Virtual Reconstructions of the Temporal and Spatial Relations of Fossil Deposits at Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)

Cited by 13 publications

References 30 publications

Terrestrial laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques for documenting fossil‐bearing palaeokarst with an example from the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa

Terrestrial laser scanning and photogrammetry techniques for documenting fossil‐bearing palaeokarst with an example from the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa

Peer Review #2 of "Combining legacy data with new drone and DGPS mapping to identify the provenance of Plio-Pleistocene fossils from Bolt’s Farm, Cradle of Humankind (South Africa) (v0.1)"

Multimodal spatial mapping and visualisation of Dinaledi Chamber and Rising Star Cave

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