A jawbone estimated to be approximately 1.8 million years old has been discovered in the Republic of Georgia, potentially marking one of the earliest instances of Homo erectus outside Africa. This significant finding, announced on July 31, 2023, by the Georgian National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation, is expected to provide new insights into the migration patterns of early human ancestors.
The excavation is led by Giorgi Bidzinashvili, an archaeologist at Ilia State University in Tbilisi. The site, known as Orozmani, is located approximately 100 kilometers south of Tbilisi and has been under investigation since 2020. Initial findings at Orozmani include ancient stone tools and a tooth from Homo erectus, unearthed in 2022.
The evolutionary significance of Homo erectus cannot be overstated. Evolving around 2 million years ago in Africa, this species was the first human ancestor known to migrate beyond the continent, exploring parts of Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The site of Dmanisi, located just 19 kilometers from Orozmani, holds the earliest fossil evidence of this journey. Research has shown that both Dmanisi and Orozmani date back to between 1.825 million and 1.765 million years ago, based on chemical dating of lava flows.
Over the past three decades, excavations at Dmanisi have uncovered more than 100 fossil bones, including five skulls. These skeletons suggest that the earliest hominins to leave Africa were notably shorter and had smaller brains than modern humans. Initially classified as a separate species called Homo georgicus, these remains are now generally recognized as the earliest known Homo erectus individuals in Eurasia.
While the Orozmani findings, including one tooth and one partial jawbone, are not as extensive as those from Dmanisi, they indicate that the region may have been home to multiple early human groups soon after their departure from Africa. Bidzinashvili commented, “Since we have not yet cleaned the jaw, it has not been compared with the Orozmani tooth from 2022.” This ongoing research could suggest a broader distribution of Homo erectus during this era.
Karen Baab, a biological anthropologist at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona, who is not involved in the research, noted, “Maybe we’re seeing that this movement to Georgia wasn’t an isolated incident, but maybe there was a broader distribution of Homo erectus in this time period.”
The research team is currently working to determine the relative ages of the Orozmani and Dmanisi finds. Bidzinashvili stated, “Until we have new dates, we can neither confirm nor deny that the Orozmani human fossils are older than Dmanisi or contemporaneous. By the end of the year, we will know.”
As this groundbreaking research continues, the implications for our understanding of human evolution and migration remain profound. The discovery at Orozmani may not only redefine the timeline of human ancestry but also illuminate the pathways taken by our early relatives as they ventured beyond Africa.
