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Additional Analysis on GPR Mapping of the Hominid Trackway, Laetoli, Tanzania
Previously I wrote a paper on the mapping of the hominid tracks at Laetoli Site S, which connected the trackway from two excavations conducted in 2016. In the search for other tracks in other grids, I mapped other features that are not footprints, but could be confused with them. This short paper is that analysis, which discovered and mapped small channels, which were likely water runoff gullies in the T-7 surface. This is not as important as the tracks themselves, but could be confused with trackways features, and need to be considered in any GPR analysis. Here I have also…
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GPR Analysis of the Mortuary Features at Pillar Sites in the Turkana Lake Area, Kenya
Four sites with standing pillars, often in clusters or circles, which are estimated to be 8,000 years old, were constructed on the margin of a large freshwater lake in northern Kenya in the early Pliocene. Limited excavations of one of them showed abundant human remains associated with these monuments. GPR surveys were carried out within and around the pillars to map possible subsurface features. It was found that skeletal remains, associated pottery and many other artifacts are found within well-defined excavated areas that are about 1 meter or more in depth. The GPR analysis was used to calculate the area…
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Ground-penetrating Radar Analysis, Jicaro Beach, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
The ephemeral remains of buildings in a Late Period Costa Rican village proved challenging for GPR mapping because little remained but foundation stones and compacted earth floors. Those features had been disturpted over the last 800-900 years by erosion, flood deposits, root action and slumping of the ground. Standard amplitude mapping proved to be beneficial in showing patterns of stones that were consistent with what is known about the shape of these ancient dwellings. Those patterns were confirmed in three locations by the identification of high amplitude planar reflections generated from compacted floor surfaces. Only with the integration of those…
