RECREATING THE DAWN OF HUMAN HISTORY

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - In 1924 Raymond Dart sorted through some crates of fossils containing fossilized shells, bones, and a skull, one that would soon create a furor of controversy around the world. After careful examination and much thought, Dart classified the fossil as Australopithecus africanus. Believing it was neither ape nor human, but rather a true missing link, he named it the Taung Child.

South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind, just outside Johannesburg, is still yielding hundreds of finds every day, producing one of the richest records of human ancestry in the world. UNESCO has designated the Cradle, a World Heritage site in recognition of its exceptional universal value and need for preservation.

The University of Arkansas is now a partner in an international effort to promote preservation and sustainable development in South Africa and provide researchers open access to geospatial data on fossil remains. This summer, the University of Arkansas forged a cooperative agreement between the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and researchers in Fulbright College and the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST).

Researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand have been discovering and studying fossils of human ancestors since Dart’s discovery in 1924. The Paleoanthropological Unit for Research and Exploration (PURE) there is one of the premier academic units of its type in the world, providing access to more than two million fossil specimens, with more coming every day from 12 ongoing excavations and exploration projects.

Research has evolved dramatically from the days of Raymond Dart — today’s scientists are using high tech tools, from computers to satellites, as they remap and reimagine the past.

"The collaboration between Wits and the University of Arkansas will work two ways," said Professor Fred Limp, Director of CAST. "Graduate students from the University of Witwatersrand will travel to the University of Arkansas to learn high-tech mapping and analysis techniques, while our students will travel to South Africa to participate in field and laboratory research efforts there. Our students will also serve as instructors for workers in South Africa, training them in the use of GPS, computer mapping and visualization techniques."

The model for paleoanthropological research in the past was simple. Scientists would go to South African villages and pay workers low wages on a day-to-day basis to chip rock chunks from fossil sites. Now, with the help of the South African government, excavators have formed the Fossil Trackers Corporation dedicated to fair hiring practices and decent wages.

Limp explained that mapping data and high-end computer visualizations will enable researchers not only to examine existing sites but also to recreate the conditions that existed in caves and other sites before they were excavated.

"We’ll be able to 'de-excavate’ a cave, filling it back in and testing hypotheses about how a site was formed, showing how a landscape probably looked millions of years ago and recreating the area around a site and the artifacts within it. We can then ask questions such as 'How did these sites accumulate large numbers of skeletons? Are we looking at the hunters or the hunted?’"

Many significant fossils are housed at University of the Witwatersrand, which will work with CAST to produce a video to be aired during the provincial government’s presentation at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, August 26 through September 4, in Johannesburg. There, over 60,000 world leaders and delegates from governments and private foundations will gather to define practical, result-oriented programs for reducing poverty, environmental degradation, hunger and mismanagement of natural resources.

CAST and anthropologist Peter Ungar will work with public and private sector partners to create a freely accessible database of existing and new fossil records available the world over on the Internet. The ongoing research of scientists such as Ungar will benefit greatly as individual artifacts, maps of bones and tools, and regional topographical features are added to an ever-growing public archive.

"People tend to hoard fossils," said Ungar. "Eventually, though, the information will be on the Web for all to see. The Internet is a powerful tool, and by granting access to all researchers, the way we do business will change. If we’re trying to globalize science, what better backdrop than the Cradle of Humankind, where we all originated?"

Ungar has already demonstrated what a powerful tool technology can be for anthropologists. He has gained national recognition for using computer mapping to chart the landscape of teeth and so gain a better understanding of how the human diet evolved.

He has a joint appointment with the University of Witwatersrand, while his colleague Dr. Lee Berger, leader of the paleoanthropology research group at Wits, is on appointment as an adjunct associate professor at the University of Arkansas.

"This is our first agreement with a university in sub-Saharan Africa," said Charles Adams, Associate Dean for International Programs in Fulbright College. "We anticipate that our collaboration with Witwatersrand will expand into a variety of areas and take us into other countries in Southern Africa," he explained.

The recent designation of the region as a World Heritage site has led the Gauteng provincial government in the Republic of South Africa to initiate a major development effort to enhance research, education and tourism.

"The time is right to formalize and expand anthropological research and training collaborations between Wits and the U of A. Science can be a powerful tool in helping to protect scarce natural resources and bridge the information gap between poor and rich nations," said Adams.

Adams, Limp, Ungar, and other Fulbright faculty are discussing additional joint research projects in the future with their counterparts at Wits, in water resources, mineralogy, earthquake studies and disaster management.