Archaeologists have found human tooth about 1.8 million years old near the village of Orozmani, in southern Georgia. So what does this mean in anthropological and evolutionary terms?
Archaeologists in Georgia recently stumbled upon an important archaeological remain. In a village near the border with Armenia, they found a tooth from early humans.
According to preliminary studies, the tooth is thought to date back 1.8 million years. Homo erectus skulls and various bones of the same age have been previously found in Dmanisi, near the village. Therefore, it is highly likely that the tooth found in Orozmani belongs to a Homo erectus.
Archaeologist Giorgi Bidzinashvili from the Dmanisi Research Team spoke to ULUKAYIN on this subject:
“Since the finds in Orozmani and Dmanisi are about the same age and Dmanisi hominids are Homo erectus, we think Orozmani tooth should also belong to Homo erectus.” (September 11, 2022)
Giorgi Bidzinashvili said that the definitive answer will be given later, with the publication of the relevant article.
Georgian authorities once again emphasized the paleoanthropological importance of Georgian territory through this archaeological discovery. They stated that the geography of Georgia and the South Caucasus was an important settlement for early people coming out of Africa.
Human Remains in Dmanisi
The Homo erectus remains found at Dmanisi in the Kvemo Kartli region are the oldest human remains ever discovered in Western Eurasia.1
These fossils, classified as Homo erectus or Homo erectus georgicus in taxonomy, provided important clues regarding the migration routes followed by early humans.
Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi
Alexey Mukhranov (Wikimedia ©️CC BY-SA 4.0)
Based on the archaeological discoveries in Dmanisi, it is thought that the Southern Caucasus was one of the first settlements of early human species to spread out of Africa. Recent discoveries in the village of Orozmani further strengthen these estimates.
Homo Erectus Migrations
Homo erectus, believed to have emerged about 2 million years ago, is the first human to stand upright, according to modern Homo remains.
Archaeologists think that Homo erectus spread through the Levantine corridor and the Horn of Africa towards Anatolia, the Caucasus and South Asia about 1.9 to 1.8 million years ago.2
The first key sites of early migration outside of Africa were Georgia, Pakistan and China. On the other hand, the spread of Homo erectus to Western Europe had begun 1.2 million years ago.
- “Fossil Skulls from Dmanisi“, G. Philip RIGHTMIRE & David LORDKIPANIDZE, Out of Africa I, ISBN: 9789048190355[↩]
- “Human Paleoecology in the Levantine Corridor”, N. Goren-Inbar & John D. Speth, Oxbow Books, ISBN: 9781842171554[↩]