Dmanisi ( ka, დმანისი, tr, , az, Başkeçid) is a town and archaeological site in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital Tbilisi in the river valley of
Mashavera
The Mashavera ( ka, მაშავერა) is a river of southern Georgia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .million years ago.1.85-1.78 Ma 95% CI. Garcia, T., Féraud, G., Falguères, C., de Lumley, H., Perrenoud, C., & Lordkipanidze, D. (2010). "Earliest human remains in Eurasia: New 40Ar/39Ar dating of the Dmanisi hominid-bearing levels, Georgia". Quaternary Geochronology, 5(4), 443–451. doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2009.09.012 It was the earliest known evidence of hominins outside Africa before stone tools dated to 2.1 million years were discovered in 2018 in Shangchen, China.
A series of skulls which had diverse physical traits, discovered at Dmanisi in the early 2010s, led to the hypothesis that many separate species in the genus ''Homo'' were in fact a single lineage. Also known as Skull 5, D4500 is the fifth skull to be discovered in Dmanisi.
History
The area around the town of Dmanisi has been settled since the Early Bronze Age. In the 6th century an
Orthodox Christian
Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion.
Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churche ...
cathedral named " Dmanisi Sioni" was built there. The oldest written record of the town is in the 9th century as a possession of the Arabemirate of Tbilisi. Located on the confluence of trading routes and cultural influences, Dmanisi was particularly important, growing into a major commercial center of medieval Georgia. The town was taken by the Seljuk Turks in the 1080s and by the Georgian kings
David the Builder
David IV, also known as David the Builder ( ka, დავით აღმაშენებელი, ') (1073–1125), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 5th king of United Georgia from 1089 until his death in 1125.
Popularly considered to be ...
and Demetrios I between 1123 and 1125. The Turco-Mongol armies under Timur laid waste to the town in the 14th century. Sacked again by the Turkomans in 1486, Dmanisi never recovered and declined to a scarcely inhabited village by the 18th century. The castle was controlled by the House of Orbeliani.
Archaeological site
Extensive archaeological studies began in the area in 1936 and continued in the 1960s. Beyond a rich collection of ancient and medieval artifacts and the ruins of various buildings and structures, unique remains of prehistoric animals and humans have been unearthed. Some of the animal bones were identified by the Georgian paleontologist A. Vekua with the teeth of the extinct rhino ''
Dicerorhinus etruscus
''Stephanorhinus'' is an extinct genus of two-horned rhinoceros native to Eurasia and North Africa that lived during the Pliocene to Late Pleistocene. Species of ''Stephanorhinus'' were the predominant and often only species of rhinoceros in much ...
etruscus'' in 1983.
This species dates back presumably to the early Pleistocene epoch. The discovery of primitive stone tools in 1984 led to increasing interest to the archaeological site. In 1991, a team of Georgian scholars was joined by the
German
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* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
Early human (or hominin) fossils, originally named ''Homo georgicus'' and now considered ''Homo erectus georgicus'', were found at Dmanisi between 1991 and 2005. At 1.8 million years old, they are now believed to be a subspecies of ''
Homo erectus
''Homo erectus'' (; meaning "upright man") is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago. Several human species, such as '' H. heidelbergensis'' and '' H. antecessor' ...
'' and not a separate species of '' Homo''. These fossils represent the earliest known human presence in the Caucasus.
Subsequently, four fossil skeletons were found, showing a species primitive in its skull and upper body but with relatively advanced spines and lower limbs. They are now thought to represent a stage soon after the transition from '' Australopithecus'' to ''Homo erectus''.
Human habitation in the Caucasus goes back to the remotest antiquity. The hominin remains discovered in 1991 by
David Lordkipanidze
David Otaris dze Lordkipanidze ( Georgian: დავით ლორთქიფანიძე) (born 5 August 1964, in Tbilisi) is a Georgian anthropologist and archaeologist, Professor (2004), Dr.Sc. (2002), Corresponding Member of the Georgian ...
at Dmanisi, Kvemo Kartli (1.8 million years old) are the oldest found outside Africa. Neanderthal remains have been found at Ortvale K’lde (1973) and elsewhere in the Caucasus (36,000–50,000 years old).
The Dmanisi hominin remains are still making an impact on the paleontological community. the
Dmanisi skull 5
The Dmanisi skull, also known as Skull 5 or D4500, is Dmanisi skulls, one of five skulls discovered in Dmanisi, Georgia (country), Georgia and classified as early ''Homo erectus''. Described in a publication in October 2013, it is estimated to b ...
is in the middle of the controversy: many hominin fossils formerly thought to be different species may not have been separate species at all. Several early members of the genus Homo were possibly one evolving
lineage
Lineage may refer to:
Science
* Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor
* Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...
File:National Food Agency in Dmanisi, Georgia.jpg, National Food Agency in Dmanisi
File:Dmanisi Pentecostal Church 2022.jpg, Dmanisi Pentecostal Church
File:Dmanisi Hospital.jpg, Dmanisi Hospital
See also
*
Prehistoric Georgia
The prehistory of Georgia is the period between the first human habitation of the territory of modern-day nation of Georgia and the time when Assyrian and Urartian, and more firmly, the Classical accounts, brought the proto-Georgian tribes into ...