Ichnological and archaeological evidence from Gombore II OAM, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia: An integrated approach to reconstruct local environments and biological presences between 1.2 and 0.85 Ma

New ichnological data are available at the prehistoric site of Melka Kunture, Upper Awash Valley in Ethiopia. Excavation of new test pits enabled us to explore the volcanic and fluvio-lacustrine sequence at the Gombore II Open Air Museum archaeological site (ca. 0.85 Ma). This has allowed a detailed reconstruction of the palaeoenvironment and of the fauna present in the time interval between 1.2 and 0.85 Ma. Various-sized mammals, birds, molluscs as well as hominins left tracks throughout the sequence, and document a varied fauna and associated behaviours. Most of the hominin tracks were made by young individuals on the basis of size and are some of the earlier child tracks to be reported. The mollusc traces document the presence and orientation of water streams which, according to the associated vertebrate traces, were visited by hominins, mammals and birds. Most of these traces were found within levels traditionally considered barren for archaeology, yet they all document life activity and are always in situ. This confirms the potential of the ichnological research as an important complementary tool for archaeological investigations

Amira operationalization of the arch ratio on the same image, implementing the approach of Šmiřák [15].

<p>The quantity of interest is the ratio of the shorter to the longer transect shown in the figure. The anterior transect (Šmiřák’s A, denominator of the ratio) is constrained to be perpendicular to the lateral anteroposterior tangent to the specific surface section chosen here; it is not a function of the outer margin of the image (the silhouette of the foot). The posterior transect, Šmiřák’s B, is parallel to A.</p

The Principal Components of Adult Female Insole Shape Align Closely with Two of Its Classic Indicators

<div><p>The plantar surface of the human foot transmits the weight and dynamic force of the owner’s lower limbs to the ground and the reaction forces back to the musculoskeletal system. Its anatomical variation is intensely studied in such fields as sports medicine and orthopedic dysmorphology. Yet, strangely, the shape of the insole that accommodates this surface and elastically buffers these forces is neither an aspect of the conventional anthropometrics of feet nor an informative label on the packet that markets supplementary insoles. In this paper we pursue an earlier suggestion that insole form in vertical view be quantified in terms of the shape of the foot not at the plane of support (the “footprint”) but some two millimeters above that level. Using such sections extracted from laser scans of 158 feet of adult women from the University of Zagreb, in conjunction with an appropriate modification of today’s standard geometric morphometrics (GMM), we find that the sectioned form can be described by its size together with two meaningful relative warps of shape. The pattern of this shape variation is not novel. It is closely aligned with two of the standard footprint measurements, the Chippaux-Šmiřák arch index and the Clarke arch angle, whose geometrical foci (the former in the ball of the foot, the latter in the arch) it apparently combines. Thus a strong contemporary analysis complements but does not supplant the simpler anthropometric analyses of half a century ago, with implications for applied anthropology.</p></div

Regression of the semilandmark polygon on the difference of the first two RW scores, versus regressions on our version of the classic arch index.

<p>Left, predictions from the difference of RW’s; right, from the classic measure as implemented in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0133303#pone.0133303.g002" target="_blank">Fig 2</a>. The patterns seem synonymous.</p

The same as Fig 6 for the comparison with arch angle.

<p>Clarke’s measure shows the same pattern as RW1 in the vicinity of the corner of the anteromedial arc, but falls off inefficiently toward the posterior arch.</p

The first two relative warp scores for 79 pairs of insole outlines.

<p>Dashes link left and right foot of each subject.</p

The data for the GMM computations.

<p>Shown are slipped Procrustes coordinates of 158 36-gons for 79 pairs of sectioned laserscan surfaces of adult female feet.</p

The same for Clarke arch angle (Fig 1) vis-à-vis the sum of the first two relative warp scores.

<p>Panels are as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0133303#pone.0133303.g008" target="_blank">Fig 8</a>. Again the actions seem synonymous.</p

Geometry of these relative warps.

<p>(left) RW1, which looks like the sum of arch index and arch angle effects. (right) RW2, which looks like a geometric difference of the same two patterns. For explanation of the multiple lines on this figure, see the text. In this and subsequent figures, size has been normalized by fixing the locations of the ends of the long diameter of the form as shown. The length divided out would be a proxy shoe size measure except that it intentionally omits reference to the toes.</p