Hominid species or subspecies discovered in Dmanisi, Georgia
Replica of Dmanisi Skull 3, the skull of an adolescent individual, discovered in 2001
The Dmanisi hominins,[1][2][3]Dmanisi people,[4] or Dmanisi man[5] were a population of Early Pleistocene hominins whose fossils have been recovered at Dmanisi, Georgia. The fossils and stone tools recovered at Dmanisi range in age from 1.85 to 1.77 million years old,[6][7][8] making the Dmanisi hominins the earliest well-dated hominin fossils in Eurasia and the best preserved fossils of early Homo from a single site so early in time, though earlier fossils and artifacts have been found in Asia. Though their precise classification is controversial and disputed, the Dmanisi fossils are highly significant within research on early hominin migrations out of Africa. The Dmanisi hominins are known from over a hundred postcranial fossils and five famous well-preserved skulls, referred to as Dmanisi Skulls 1–5.
The taxonomic status of the Dmanisi hominins is somewhat unclear due to their small brain size, primitive skeletal architecture, and the range of variation exhibited between the skulls. Their initial description classified them as Homo (erectus?) ergaster (an otherwise African taxon), or potentially an early offshoot of later Asian H. erectus. The discovery of a massive jaw, D2600, in 2000 led researchers to hypothesize that more than one hominin taxon had been present at the site and in 2002, the jaw was designated as the type specimen of the new species Homo georgicus. Later analyses by the Dmanisi research team have concluded that all the skulls likely represent the same taxon with significant age-related and sexual dimorphism, though this is not a universally held view. In 2006, the team favoured subsuming the taxon under Homo erectus as H. erectus georgicus or H. e. ergaster georgicus. The nomenclature is still debated.
Location of discovery at Dmanisi, Georgia
Anatomically, the Dmanisi hominins exhibited a mosaic of traits, possessing some features reminiscent of later and more derived H. erectus and modern humans, while retaining features of earlier Homo and Australopithecus. The length and morphology of their legs was essentially modern and they would have been adapted to long-range walking and running, but their arms were likely more similar to the arms of Australopithecus and modern non-human apes than to later hominins. The Dmanisi hominins would also have differed from later (non-insular) Homo in their small body (145–166 cm; 4.8–5.4 ft) and brain size (545–775 cc), both of which are more comparable to H. habilis than to later H. erectus. Morphological traits unifying all of the skulls, though the degree in which they are pronounced differ, include large brow ridges and faces.
In the Pleistocene, the climate of Georgia was more humid and forested than it is today, comparable to a mediterranean climate. The Dmanisi fossil site was located near an ancient lake shore, surrounded by forests and grasslands and home to a diverse fauna of Pleistocene animals. The favourable climate at Dmanisi might have acted as a refuge for hominins in the Early Pleistocene and it would have been reachable from Africa through the Levantine corridor. Stone tools found at the site are of the Oldowan tradition.
The Dmanisihominins, Dmanisi people, or Dmanisi man were a population of Early Pleistocene hominins whose fossils have been recovered at Dmanisi, Georgia...
Dmanisi (Georgian: დმანისი, romanized: dmanisi, pronounced [dmanisi], Azerbaijani: Başkeçid) is a town and archaeological site in the Kvemo Kartli region...
Ciochon, Russell L. (2010), "Divorcing Hominins from the Stegodon–Ailuropoda Fauna: New Views on the Antiquity of Hominins in Asia", in John G. Fleagle; et al...
Africa. The Dmanisi archeological site is the earliest hominin site out of Africa and the analysis of its artifacts showed that some hominins, chiefly the...
The primitive H. e. georgicus from Dmanisi, Georgia has the smallest brain capacity of any known Pleistocene hominin (about 600 cc), and its inclusion...
Zollikofer, C. P. E. (2010). "Locomotor anatomy and biomechanics of the Dmanisihominins" (PDF). Journal of Human Evolution. 58 (6): 492–504. doi:10.1016/j...
by cognitive scientist Philip Lieberman. Altamura Man Ceprano Man Dmanisihominins Early European modern humans Homo antecessor Homo rhodesiensis Swanscombe...
Ceprano Man Dmanisihominins Early European modern humans Happisburgh footprints Homo heidelbergensis Neanderthal Early expansions of hominins out of Africa...
D2700, also known as Dmanisi skull 3, is one of five skulls discovered in Dmanisi, Georgia in 2001 and classified as early Homo erectus. It is an almost...
preceding hominins were polygynous. However, it is highly difficult to speculate with any confidence the group dynamics of early hominins. The degree...
Vekua, Abesalom; Ferring, Reid; et al. (November 2006). "A fourth hominin skull from Dmanisi, Georgia". The Anatomical Record Part A: Discoveries in Molecular...
tropical woodland. The Yuanmou Man is only slightly younger than the Dmanisihominins from the Caucasus, 1.77–1.75 million years old, who are the oldest...
characteristically human body plan, such as that represented by the Dmanisihominins. The latter scenario has also been proposed for H. floresiensis, which...
indisputable early Homo remains outside of Africa". Starting with these Dmanisihominins, the exhibit also covers the Sakdrisi goldmine and contains a room...
rather than only certain sections.: 33–36 Ceprano Man Clactonian Dmanisihominins European early modern humans Happisburgh footprints Homo antecessor...
Baringo District, Kenya BOU-VP – Bouri Vertebrate Paleontology, Ethiopia D – Dmanisi, Georgia ER – East (Lake) Rudolf, Kenya KGA – Konso-Gardula, Ethiopia KNM –...
association with the hominins, but archaeologists believe that they would be the strongest candidates for tool manufacture. There are no hominins in those layers...
The Dmanisi historic site (Georgian: დმანისის ნაქალაქარი, romanized: dmanisis nakalakari, literally, "the ruined/former town of Dmanisi") is a historic...
bone—and sampling bias probably contribute most to this problem. Other hominins probably adapted to the drier environments outside the African equatorial...
tribes and families. Wood and Richmond (2000) proposed that Hominini ("hominins") be designated as a tribe that comprised all species of early humans and...
ergaster-like traits, the Dmanisi skulls possess a wide assortment of other traits, some of which are similar to traits in earlier hominins such as H. habilis...
how wide the range of variation is in early hominins. The 2013 discovery of the 1.8 Ma Georgian Dmanisi skulls which exhibit several similarities with...
migrations of Homo erectus out of Africa, with (as of 2014) only the site of Dmanisi in Georgia being older. The site yielded hand axes of the Acheulean type...
the toothpick is the oldest instrument for dental cleaning. Hominin remains from Dmanisi, Georgia, dated to about 1.8 million years ago, bear lesions...
humanity as a complex, interrelated genetic continuum. Taxonomy of the hominins continues to evolve. Human taxonomy on one hand involves the placement...
September 19 - Ötzi the Iceman. September 25 - First fragment of Dmanisihominins in Georgia. September - Fourteen Ancient Egyptian Boats (First Dynasty)...
early humans outside the African continent; and the Dmanisi skulls are the five oldest hominins ever found outside Africa. Kura–Araxes culture from about...
ago are claimed to be the earliest known evidence of hominins outside Africa, surpassing Dmanisi in Georgia by 300,000 years. Between 2 and less than...
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