He spent the next three hours photographing and drawing the images on the rocks, consulting Professor Higgins's monographs, taking notes, and using something that looked like a police radar gun.
"What the hell is that?" Harlan asked.
"Portable X-ray fluorescence scanner: pXRF, for short."
"What's it do?"
"Scans rock paintings in situ and provides immediate readings concerning the chemical constituents of the pigments used to paint them."
"In situ?"
"In place, at the original site."
"Damn. Who knew archaeology was so cool?"
For Harlan, the day passed slowly, but for Eliot it flew by. He worked non-stop, quickly and efficiently, so that he completed his initial examination and recording of the petroglyphs shortly after noon, almost three hours before he'd anticipated.
Reluctantly, h
