Finally, after two long years of COVID-related travel restrictions, several Stellenbosch University/Bakeng se Afrika members were able to travel to Gauteng to attend a few workshops and lectures as part of the Dirisana+ Interim Meeting II, hosted by the University of Witwatersrand (WITS) from 7-11 March.
Disclaimer: all skeletal material pictured is either plastic or has been 3D printed.
Chantelle Marais, Kim von Dewitz and Megan Calitz set off for Johannesburg on Monday, March 7th. The team at the University of Pretoria kindly arranged their accommodation, which was conveniently situated just a few minute drive from the University of Pretoria's Medical Campus and not too far a drive from the University of the Witswatersrand where the in-person workshops took place on the 8th, 10th and 11th of March.
On their first day (March 8th), students and staff attended a 3D Imaging workshop presented by Ms Miksha Harripershad, Ms Charlotte Theye and Dr Alison Ridel. The presenters took the participants through a step-by-step demonstration of how to analyse a micro-CT scanned tooth using the Avizo software. Participants were given the opportunity to segment themselves the tooth and thus virtually isolate the different parts of the tooth (i.e., enamel, pulp, dentin), and finally do some mock measurements. Furthermore, Dr Ridel explained how the final product would be processed to be 3D printed. It's mind boggling the wealth of information one can obtain from the human body.
The 3D imaging workshop that the students had already attended was repeated on the 9th for other workshop attendees, while Meg-Kyla Erasmus (BsA Junior Project Coordinator, UP) was kind enough to treat the SU team with an outing to the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa).
The students got a bit of a "behind the scenes" look at how skeletal material is scanned using a micro-CT scanner. They were also shown what the segmentation and reconstruction process of the scans entail. Afterwards, the team was further treated to a bit of sight-seeing around the UP campus. Don't they look like a bunch of happy tourists!
Then, finally, after much excitement and anticipation, it was time to commence with the Forensic Archaeology Workshops, presented by Dr Anya Meyer from the Human Variation and Identification Research Unit (HVIRU, University of the Witswatersrand) and Mr Okuhle Sapo from the Forensic Anthropology Research Centre (Department of Anatomy, University of Pretoria). On the 10th of March, participants attended half a day of lectures covering the basic archaeological principles and techniques (such as the use of GPR) that are used to locate and excavate human remains, specifically in the medico-legal setting. They were also presented a lecture on the documentation of evidence and report writing. It was then time for the participants to get their hands dirty with a full day of fieldwork on the 11th of March!
Participants were split into groups of three or four and tasked, thanks to their newfound knowledge of the previous day's lectures, to locate, excavate and document a mock grave. This was done by doing a line survey of the field to flag abnormalities and to locate the potential grave. After determining where the bones were buried, an excavation grid was set up for each grave and they started digging! A large portion of the day was spent excavating the grave, until all bones were revealed. After this, they needed to document the positions of the body in the grave, take coordinates of the major body parts as well as the artefacts, and measure the bones. It was a really fun experience and definitely on of the highlights of their trip. (Disclaimer: all skeletal material pictured is plastic).
On the last day of their Gauteng trip, the students were supposed to visit The Cradle of Humankind, however, they ultimately cancelled this outing due to feeling too fatigued after the long week and needing to catch-up on university work. Guess you could say that they worked themselves to the bone (pun intended)!
When asked what the highlight of the trip was, Chantelle said the following "I would say the fieldwork day for the Forensic Archaeology workshop was quite memorable. We rarely get to do mock excavations, so it was fun to get that hand-on experience and to get our hands dirty. I think a personal highlight for me would also be the NECSA tour. I sent all my MSc samples to them for micro-CT scanning so it was really cool to see their facilities in-person."
Aimee Welmans & Chantelle Marais
Bakeng se Afrika Team
BARU (Biological Anthropology Research Unit)
Division of Clinical Anatomy
Stellenbosch University