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Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Cautasus) dated to 1.85-1.78 Ma.

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Title: Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Cautasus) dated to 1.85-1.78 Ma.
Authors: Ferring, Reid1 ferring@unt.edu, Oms, Oriol2, Agusti, Jordi3, Berna, Francesco4, Nioradze, Medea5, Shelia, Teona5, Tappen, Martha6, Vekua, Abesalom5, Zhvania, David5, Lordkipanidz, David5 dlordkipanidze@museum.ge
Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 6/28/2011, Vol. 108 Issue 26, p10432-10436. 5p.
Subjects: Homo erectus, Human settlements, Fossils
Geographic Terms: Dmanisi (Georgia), Georgia, Eurasia
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 hominm 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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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 hominm 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:00278424
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1106638108