title: Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Caucasus) dated to 1.85-1.78 Ma.
abstract: The early Pleistocene colonization of temperate Eurasia by Homo erectus was not only a significant biogeographic event but also a major evolutionary threshold. Dmanisi's rich collection of hominin fossils, revealing a population that was small-brained with both primitive and derived skeletal traits, has been dated to the earliest Upper Matuyama chron (ca. 1.77 Ma). Here we present archaeological and geologic evidence that push back Dmanisi's first occupations to shortly after 1.85 Ma and document repeated use of the site over the last half of the Olduvai subchron, 1.85-1.78 Ma. These discoveries show that the southern Caucasus was occupied repeatedly before Dmanisi's hominin fossil assemblage accumulated, strengthening the probability that this was part of a core area for the colonization of Eurasia. The secure age for Dmanisi's first occupations reveals that Eurasia was probably occupied before Homo erectus appears in the East African fossil record.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA. ferring@unt.edu
authors.forename: Reid
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ferring
authors.forename: Oriol
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Oms
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Agustí
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berna
authors.forename: Medea
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nioradze
authors.forename: Teona
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shelia
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tappen
authors.forename: Abesalom
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vekua
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhvania
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lordkipanidze
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000883:Anthropology; D005580:Fossils; D005846:Georgia (Republic); D049690:History, Ancient; D015186:Hominidae; D006801:Humans; D010163:Paleontology