The aims of my diploma thesis are the design of a map of Drátenická cave surroundings in the Moravian Karst in the 1:500 scale with details utilizable by speleologists and the examination of a map of 1945 depicting the region of Drátenická cave. The thesis includes an elaboration of the theoretical foundations relevant for the fulfillment of the aims and the descriptions of the geodetic and processing procedures. The outcome of the thesis is the planimetric and altimetric survey, a new digital map of the region and the final examination of planimetric and altimetric components of the map of 1945.

Circadian clocks enable coordination of essential biological and metabolic processes in relation to the 24-hour light cycle. However, there are many habitats that are not subject to this light cycle, such as the deep sea, arctic regions, and cave systems. This study analyzes the circadian pattern of isolated populations of a subterranean spider, Meta ovalis from two Tennessee caves and five Indiana caves. Locomotor activity was recorded with TriKinetics LAM50 Locomotor Activity Monitor under a 12-hour light (L), 12-hour dark (D) (LD 12:12) cycle preceding total darkness (DD). Significant differences were found within and among populations found in Tennessee cave systems in average free running period and onset of locomotor activity. Selection, drift, and genetic fixation are explored as the causes of variation in the present study, using M. ovalis as the model organism. All five caves in Indiana show little variation, whereas both Tennessee caves show large interindividual variation.

Diese Arbeit befasst sich mit der Konzeption eines Gestaltungskonzeptes für die Visualisierung komplexer zusammenhängender Datenmengen, wie sie durch Graphen repräsentiert werden können. Als Ausgabemedium wird dazu das immersive VR-System CAVE genutzt, welches es dem Betrachter ermöglicht, die Daten stereoskopisch und damit räumlich zu betrachten. Zur Entwicklung eines Gestaltkonzeptes für Graphen werden sowohl Besonderheiten der Raumwahrnehmung in VR-Systemen als auch Anforderungen und Aufgaben auf Graphen beleuchtet. Zusätzlich entstand ein Modell zur Klassifizierung von Graphenanwendungen sowie ein innovatives Konzept zur Darstellung von großen zweidimensionalen Graphen in einer CAVE. Als Resultat werden grundlegende Gestaltungskriterien angeboten, die es ermöglichen sollen, eine intuitive und effektive Visualisierung von Graphen zu realisieren.:1. Einleitung 1.1. Zielstellung 1.2. Gliederung 2. Grundlagen und Begrife 2.1. Informationsvisualisierung 2.2. Graphentheorie 2.3. Graphenlayout 2.4. Wahrnehmungundpsychologische Grundlagen 2.5. 3D Computergrafik 2.6. Stereo Grafik 2.7. Virtuelle Realität 2.8. Das Medium CAVE 3. Verwandte Arbeiten 3.1. ConeTrees 3.2. Information Cube 3.3. Hyperbolic Layout-H3 viewer 3.4. Skyrails 3.5. Perspective Wall 4. Synthese 4.1. Einführung 4.2. Einsatzgebiet für Graphen 4.3. Arbeiten mit Graphen 4.4. Mehrwert der dritten Dimension 4.5. Allgemeine Gestaltung 4.6. Orientierung 4.7. Farbe als Gestaltungsmittel 4.8. Gestaltung von Knoten 4.9. Gestaltung von Kanten 4.10. Hintergrund 4.11. Anordnung 4.12. Darstellung von großen zweidimensionalen Inhalten 4.13. Zusammenfassung 5. Praktische Umsetzung 5.1. Werkzeuge 5.2. Testfälle 5.3. Umsetzung 5.4. Evaluation 5.5. Zusammenfassung 6. Zusammenfassung und Ausblick 6.1. Fazit 6.2. Diskussion 6.3. Ausblick

No description available.

The means in which fossil accumulations in the caves of southern Africa have formed is of great importance. One method of accumulation is via the collecting behaviours of a variety of mammalian species. The core of said behaviour is in the use of caves by these species. This project was designed to give insight to the way that animals in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa are using caves today. The objective of this research is to give a new understanding to the amount that caves are used by various taxa in South African cave systems, with particular regard to taphonomic agents and potential taphonomic agents. This study was accomplished over a 20-month period by setting up motion sensor cameras outside of cave entrances at the Malapa Nature Reserve. Results have shown that animals use caves at high frequencies, crucial to recognize when examining fossil accumulations.

Analytical methods for extracting detailed functional and technological information from Middle Stone Age stone tools were refined and developed. This was achieved within a theoretical framework that insists on multiple-stranded evidence for behavioural interpretation. The methods include micro-residue analysis, macrofracture analysis and usewear analysis. Stone tool assemblages – spanning the period between about 100 000 and 50 000 years ago – from Sibudu Cave, Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter, Klasies River Cave 2 and Blombos Cave were analysed. Results derived from macrofracture analyses, that are often conducted as an initial study to assess whether tool classes could have been used in hunting weapons, are used to formulate the following working hypotheses for Stone Age hunting technologies in South Africa: a) some pre-Howiesons Poort pointed tools were used as hafted butchery knives, while others could have been used to tip hunting weapons; b) Howiesons Poort backed tools were probably used as interchangeable pieces in hafted hunting weapons; c) post-Howiesons Poort points were used to tip hunting weapons; d) Later Stone Age hunting technologies were different from those practiced during the Middle Stone Age. The macrofracture results also provided interesting comparable data showing distinct time-related clustering of the results. Although more tools that could have functioned as hunting weapons must be analysed to evaluate the authenticity of these observations, the results suggest that macrofracture studies are important for the study of change in Stone Age hunting behaviours. The main methodological contribution of this thesis is micro-residue analysis. Advances in this method developed from blind tests on replicated flakes with residues derived from the processing of plant and animal products. Lessons learned from previous blind tests shaped the new research reported here and lead to improved methodology and interpretative skills. The last test in the series of four resulted in the most accurate interpretations because, prior to Test 4, iv identification difficulties experienced during the first three blind tests were addressed through replication. The new work reported here highlights some of the difficulties that can be experienced in the morphological identification of microscopic organic residues, particularly the distinction between animal and plant residues. It is specifically recommended that multi-stranded evidence be used for the identification of animal and plant residues. Micro-residue analysis of archaeological samples provided direct evidence for functional and hafting interpretations. These can be used to evaluate the hypotheses based on the results of macrofracture analyses and to provide data for further detailed interpretations. For example, it is shown that: a) retouched points from the Still Bay were used as knives hafted to wooden handles; b) segments from the Howiesons Poort were probably hafted in bone and wood shafts in different hafting configurations that varied during the span of the technocomplex; c) Howiesons Poort segments were mostly used on animal material; d) ochre was mixed into the adhesive recipes during the post-Howiesons Poort, the Howiesons Poort and possibly during the Still Bay technocomplexes at Sibudu Cave. Thus, the multi-analytical approach followed throughout the study contributes evidence for the early development of sophisticated and variable hunting and hafting technologies used by anatomically modern humans in South Africa. Our current knowledge of behavioural trends during the Middle Stone Age has been expanded, allowing rare glimpses into the everyday activities of people living in the deep past. Perceptions of a static, pre-modern technology and unvaried faunal exploitation during the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa are unfounded.

Sinkhole collapse is a common karst land-use risk around the world. In the Bahamas cover-collapse sinkholes do not exist because soil cover is thin; almost all collapse is due to cave ceiling failure. The most common cave types in the Bahamas are flank margin caves and banana holes. Flank margin caves have three entrance types: dissolution pit, side breach, or ceiling collapse. Both side breach and ceiling collapse are the result of mass erosional forces; pits by focused dissolution. It was previously proposed that slope was a controlling factor in Bahamian cave collapse. This study demonstrated that 7.5 minute topographic maps cannot resolve slopes accurately enough to predict potential collapse locations. Field surveys with 1 m contours allowed for a more concise slope range in which each entrance type preferentially occurred; collapse breaches and pits were common on gentle slopes and side breaches on steep slopes.

No description available.

Excavations of ACb-3 Cave have uncovered the remains of at least seven individual Megalonyx jeffersonii, providing the most complete ontogenetic sequence of the taxon from one locality. Four individuals representing four distinct age classifications (infant, juvenile, subadult, and adult) were described and examined for pathologies. Cranial and major forelimb elements depict a change in morphology (trending from robust and stout to gracile and elongate) through ontogeny. Pathologies on the scapula and radius of the adult ground sloth indicate a potential attack from fighting or mating. The presence of infant and juvenile sloths suggests this cave may have been used as a maternity den. The nearly complete adult (RMM 5353) was compared to Megalonyx from other North American localities. Bivariate plots, created using linear measurements, showed that RMM 5353 was within the size range of M. jeffersonii and further supports the concept of Megalonyx chronospecies.

Descriptive and taphonomic analyses of undescribed Pleistocene Tayassuidae from Guy Wilson Cave within the East Tennessee State University and McClung Museum collections revealed a MNI of 16 Platygonus compressus and 2 Mylohyus from left femora and isolated teeth, respectively. Linkage between upper dentition and species identification is suggested by comparing Mylohyus fossilis to M. nasutus from other Pleistocene-aged sites. Long-bone NISP and age profiles show a predominance of Platygonus adults. Tayassuidae upper canines, likely Platygonus, suggest sexual dimorphism. Long bones were analyzed for carnivore damage and utilization revealing light utilization similar to that caused by modern wolves. Long bone weathering is predominantly light and suggests limited exposure prior to burial. Results indicate the cave was likely used as a carnivore den, possibly from dire wolf, for a period of time. No stratigraphical excavation data were available for either collection; therefore, additional excavations are needed to confirm these findings.