MULTI – SEASONAL GROUND – PENETRATING RADAR (GPR) ANALYSES AT THE FANTA STREAM FOSSIL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE, CENTRAL ETHIOPIA

The Fanta Stream paleontological and archaeological site is a newly discovered cultural and natural resource, located within the city limits of Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. The stream is a tributary of the Awash River, and contains a dense concentration of fossil mammals and associated artifactual materials located in a rare high – altitude context. Due to the threatened nature of this site as a result of industrial and agricultural development, a ground – penetrating radar (GPR) survey provided a rapid means to analyze the spatial extent of fossiliferous and archaeological stratigraphic units in initializing a resource management plan to protect this area. Multi – seasonal GPR analyses completed over 2009 and 2010 field seasons in this location allows for a comparative model of the subsurface during different seasonal periods in assessing the vertical and lateral extent of stratigraphic contacts. A comparison of these seasonal episodes with respect to GPR raw and processed data allows for an examination of features associated with varying hydrological and environmental conditions in the same location. A sampling of hand – augered geological boreholes and stream cutbank exposures provide a ground – truth to the radar profiles. Radar reflections seen within the profiles have enabled the identification of stratigraphic units across the site, resolving the depth and thickness of fossiliferous deposits at Fanta.