Skulls Provide More Evidence of Early Migration Out of Africa


Skulls Provide More Evidence of Early Migration Out of Africa	October 12, 1999
by Paul G. Bahn

In a sensational development in the field of human origins, researchers in the Republic of Georgia claim to have discovered the oldest human fossils ever found outside Africa. The new finds--two almost completely preserved skulls estimated to be between 1.6 and 1.8 million years old--emerged at Dmanisi in the Caucasus, southern Georgia, which lies on a solidified stream of basalt. Skulls of a similar age have been discovered in Indonesia.

Near the human fossils the researchers encountered simple stone chips bearing no sign of being worked into recognizable tools. No traces of fire were found either, but they would not be expected at this early date. Dmanisi was part of a savannah-like grassland that was home to saber-toothed tigers and early elephants.

The new finds were made by scholars from the Forschungsstelle Altsteinzeit des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz and the Archaeological Centre of the Georgian Academy of Science (Tblisi) who have been working together for the past decade. It was this year's excavation of an area only four meters square that revealed the two skulls. Dmanisi yielded the lower jaw of a young early human in 1991 and a metatarsal (foot bone) in 1997.

After the discovery, Georgian president Edward Schevardnadze arrived to see the skulls for himself. With him came troop of police, as the president has received numerous assassination threats in advance of this month's election. The research team hopes that the Georgian authorities will soon agree to the skulls being brought to Mainz for restoration and conservation.