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International scientists bring understanding of human evolution

25 July 2019 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Leonie Bolleurs

Plant Sciences Congress — At a public seminar, Understanding human evolution through the study of past environments in the Free State, presented by the UFS Department of Plant Sciences, were, from the left, front: Kristen Wroth, Britt Bousman; back: Prof Louis Scott, mentor in the UFS Department of Plant Sciences, and Michael Toffolo.

Florisbad, a thermal spring situated 45 km northwest of Bloemfontein on the edge of a large dry saltpan, is a well-known fossil site that used to be a large lake where giant buffalo, blue wildebeest, and hippos roamed thousands of years ago. Today, this fossil-bearing spring is not only a tourist attraction and a venue for weddings, but also an established quaternary research station that has attracted several palaeo-scientists since the 1930s, following the discovery of a remarkable human cranium and other fauna.

Studies of past environments

Three international researchers studying different aspects of archaeology at this and other sites in the Free State, recently presented lectures at the UFS to a multidisciplinary group of academics in plant sciences, geology, geography, and environmental management.

These lectures are part of the ongoing collaboration regarding fossil plant (pollen), fauna, and archaeological studies between the University of the Free State (UFS), the National Museum, and universities abroad.

Florisbad, a key site for understanding the appearance of modern environments as well as modern humans in Southern Africa, is the focus of the investigations of all three visiting scientists, aiming to provide a better understanding of past Free State environments where human evolution has taken place.

Michael Toffolo, a junior research chair from the University of Bordeaux Montaigne in France, focuses on the reconstruction of site-formation processes, palaeo-environments, and ancient human activities based on the study of the micro-morphology of archaeological deposits. He has been working in Southern Africa since 2013. The title of his lecture was: Reconstructing Pleistocene environments in the Free State by looking at the microscopic sedimentary record.

Fluoride-preserved bones

Florisbad is widely known for the discovery of an archaic modern human skull of c. 260 000 years old. According to Toffolo, the human probably died, and the remains was left at the spring by the hyenas. The bones consequently absorbed fluoride from the spring water, which counteracted decomposition and helped to preserve it.

Britt Bousman talked about middle and late Pleistocene terraces and archaeology in the Modder River Valley. He has worked in Southern Africa for the past 43 years and started his collaboration with researchers from the UFS and the National Museum in 1985. They have worked together at several sites, investigating palaeo-environments. Bousman teaches Archaeology in the Department of Anthropology at the Texas State University.

While most scientists study early human records in rock shelters, especially those near the coast where seafood was harvested by prehistoric people, he is one of only a few researchers who studies the evolution of early human behaviour in central South Africa in the context of their activities in the open environment.

“Rock shelters are good spaces for human behaviour,” says Bousman. He believes, however, that the Modder River area is a better space to study how humans have survived on the land under changing climatic conditions in the long term; for example, how they hunted and slaughtered animals. This can be seen from the many artefacts they left, such as spearheads, scrapers, etc. Interesting animal remains were also found, such as the bones of an extinct giant zebra at the Erfkroon site along the Modder River, with a head measuring 63 cm compared to that of a current zebra, which measures 54 cm. The only complete horn core of an extinct giant wildebeest was also found at the site.

The first chemists

According to Bousman, technology changed in the Stone Age and included the production of more grinding stones, indicating that humans collected plants and grinded them. Observations of modern plant-collecting activities suggested that not many plant foods needed grinding. Bousman proposes that different plant components may have been grinded for medicinal mixtures, therefore these ancestors may have assumed the role of chemists.

Kristen Wroth, a postdoctoral researcher in the Geoarchaeology Working Group at the University of Tübingen, Germany, presented a lecture on early human-environment interactions and ancient pyro technology. She uses a suite of micro-archaeological techniques such as phytolith (microscopic plant silica) analysis, micromorphology, and FTIR to understand both human and Neanderthal behaviour and to reconstruct how local environments have changed in space and through time.

News Archive

Eye tracker device a first in Africa

2013-07-31

31 July 2013

Keeping an eye on empowerment

"If we can see what you see, we can think what you think."

Eye-tracking used to be one of those fabulous science-fiction inventions, along with Superman-like bionic ability. Could you really use the movement of your eyes to read people's minds? Or drive your car? Or transfix your enemy with a laser-beam?

Well, actually, yes, you can (apart, perhaps, from the laser beam… ). An eye tracker is not something from science fiction; it actually exists, and is widely used around the world for a number of purposes.

Simply put, an eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement. Its most obvious use is in marketing, to find out what people are looking at (when they see an advertisement, for instance, or when they are wandering along a supermarket aisle). The eye tracker measures where people look first, what attracts their attention, and what they look at the longest. It is used extensively in developed countries to predict consumer behaviour, based on what – literally – catches the eye.

On a more serious level, psychologists, therapists and educators can also use this device for a number of applications, such as analysis and education. And – most excitingly – eye tracking can be used by disabled people to use a computer and thereby operate a number of devices and machines. Impaired or disabled people can use eye tracking to get a whole new lease on life.

In South Africa and other developing countries, however, eye tracking is not widely used. Even though off-the-shelf webcams and open-source software can be obtained extremely cheaply, they are complex to use and the quality cannot be guaranteed. Specialist high-quality eye-tracking devices have to be imported, and they are extremely expensive – or rather – they used to be. Not anymore.

The Department of Computer Science and Informatics (CSI) at the University of the Free State has succeeded in developing a high-quality eye tracker at a fraction of the cost of the imported devices. Along with the hardware, the department has also developed specialised software for a number of applications. These would be useful for graphic designers, marketers, analysts, cognitive psychologists, language specialists, ophthalmologists, radiographers, occupational and speech therapists, and people with disabilities. In the not-too-distant future, even fleet owners and drivers would be able to use this technology.

"The research team at CSI has many years of eye-tracking experience," says team leader Prof Pieter Blignaut, "both with the technical aspect as well as the practical aspect. We also provide a multi-dimensional service to clients that includes the equipment, training and support. We even provide feedback to users.

"We have a basic desktop model available that can be used for research, and can be adapted so that people can interact with a computer. It will be possible in future to design a device that would be able to operate a wheelchair. We are working on a model incorporated into a pair of glasses which will provide gaze analysis for people in their natural surroundings, for instance when driving a vehicle.

"Up till now, the imported models have been too expensive," he continues. "But with our system, the technology is now within reach for anyone who needs it. This could lead to economic expansion and job creation."

The University of the Free State is the first manufacturer of eye-tracking devices in Africa, and Blignaut hopes that the project will contribute to nation-building and empowerment.

"The biggest advantage is that we now have a local manufacturer providing a quality product with local training and support."

In an eye-tracking device, a tiny infra-red light shines on the eye and causes a reflection which is picked up by a high-resolution camera. Every eye movement causes a change in the reflection, which is then mapped. Infra-red light is not harmful to the eye and is not even noticed. Eye movement is then completely natural.

Based on eye movements, a researcher can study cognitive patterns, driver behaviour, attention spans, even thinking patterns. A disabled person could use their eye-movements to interact with a computer, with future technology (still in development) that would enable that computer to control a wheelchair or operate machinery.

The UFS recently initiated the foundation of an eye-tracking interest group for South Africa (ETSA) and sponsor a biennial-eye tracking conference. Their website can be found at www.eyetrackingsa.co.za.

“Eye tracking is an amazing tool for empowerment and development in Africa, “ says Blignaut, “but it is not used as much as it should be, because it is seen as too expensive. We are trying to bring this technology within the reach of anyone and everyone who needs it.”

Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication

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