GIS and paleoanthropology: Incorporating new approaches from the geospatial sciences in the analysis of primate and human evolution

Abstract

The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a welcome trend for the study of primate and human evolution. The use of remote sensing (RS) imagery and geographic information systems (GIS) allows vertebrate paleontologists, paleoanthropologists, and functional morphologists to study fossil localities, landscapes, and individual specimens in new and innovative ways that recognize and analyze the spatial nature of much paleoanthropological data. Whether one is interested in locating and mapping fossiliferous rock units in the field, creating a searchable and georeferenced database to catalog fossil localities and specimens, or studying the functional morphology of fossil teeth, bones, or artifacts, the new geospatial sciences provide an essential element in modern paleoanthropological inquiry. In this article we review recent successful applications of RS and GIS within paleoanthropology and related fields and argue for the importance of these methods for the study of human evolution in the twenty first century. We argue that the time has come for inclusion of geospatial specialists in all interdisciplinary field research in paleoanthropology, and suggest some promising areas of development and application of the methods of geospatial science to the science of human evolution. Yrbk Phys Anthropol 54: 19-46, 2011. V

Finding fossils in new ways: An artificial neural network approach to predicting the location of productive fossil localities

“…4 Green and Sussman 57 demonstrated how satellite imagery could reveal a multi-decadal record of deforestation in the eastern forested zone of Madagascar and highlighted the conservation implications of this trend for the future of the island's mostly endemic fauna and flora. Smith, Horning, and Moore 58 created a large GIS database to study habitat degradation and deforestation in western Madagascar, and evaluate how well the system of nature reserves was succeeding in safeguarding the local habitat and fauna.…”

“…[67][68][69] Following Denne Reed's 70 initial use of three-dimensional (3-D) imaging and GIS software to study tooth morphology in 1997, several workers have applied the tools of GIS to the analysis of tooth morphology and dental microwear with the goal of understanding dietary differences among a wide variety of living and fossil primates. 4 Using different approaches to collect either landmark data 70 or three-dimensional point clouds derived from 3-D scanners, 71,72 a DEM of the tooth occlusal surface can be generated and analyzed using GIS software. Peter Ungar of the University of Arkansas, along with a long list of collaborators, students, and post-docs, has applied the tools of geospatial analysis to the functional morphology of teeth and patterns of dental microwear.…”

“…15 As a whole, however, there is little evidence of sophisticated uses of GIS and RS in the literature of paleoanthropology or vertebrate paleontology. 4 The most successful use of RS in the search for hominin fossils can be found in the work of Berhane Asfaw, Tim White, and colleagues on the Paleoanthropological Inventory of Ethiopia project. 16 Begun in 1988, this project has used a wide range of RS imagery of largely unexplored areas in the Afar Depression and the Main Ethiopian Rift to identify lithologies and geological features of potential paleontological and paleoanthropological interest.…”

“…If successful, such approaches have great potential to increase the efficiency of paleontological field work while, at the same time, decreasing the sometimes staggering logistical costs such field excursions often incur. 4 The use of GIS and RS to guide paleoanthropological field work and to provide new analytical approaches to locating hominin-bearing deposits lags well behind the use of these methods by archeologists and geologists. Archeologists were early adopters of the tools and techniques of the geographic sciences [5][6][7] and have made major advances in using GIS and RS to locate new sites 8 or uncover previously hidden features at known sites, 9 analyze the spatial relations of artifacts within sites, 10,11 and develop predictive models for site location.…”

An Object-Oriented Approach to Extracting Productive Fossil Localities from Remotely Sensed Imagery

“…Although paleontologists and paleoanthropologists use global navigational satellite systems and online data sources such as geological maps to identify potential fossiliferous areas, the process of selecting which areas a field crew should intensively investigate has remained relatively constant for the last century [1] and there is a certain element of luck in the discovery of new sites. The primary method of locating fossils in the landscape is through intensive and time consuming field surveys in which teams spend large amounts of time traversing the landscape in vehicles and on foot in search of productive areas, which are usually spotted at a distance from a road or higher ground.…”