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Faculty: Ungar The HARLS-CS is useful for paleoanthropological applications. Ungar and students have been using GIS to map and analyze the spatial distributions of fossil bones and early stone tools at important early hominin (human ancestor) localities within the newly established UNESCO Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in the Gauteng and Northern Provinces of South Africa (e.g., Nigro et al., in press; Lacruz et al., submitted). The laser profiler in particular, allows rapid mapping of the cave walls in these localities, providing invaluable geological context to the fossils in the GIS . This procedure takes weeks using conventional laser theodolite techniques. The total station with GPS also helps in the location of artifacts, and concentrations of bone within fossil bearing paleocave systems. Ungar and his colleagues at the University of the Witwatersrand have also been using remote sensing technology to help in the search for new fossil sites in southern Africa. The spectroradiometer and Duncan MS4100 provide invaluable tools in this search, by facilitating supervised classifications in GIS models to help predict locations of new fossil deposits.
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