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Science 12 May 2000:
Vol. 288. no. 5468, pp. 1019 - 1025
DOI: 10.1126/science.288.5468.1019
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Research Articles

Earliest Pleistocene Hominid Cranial Remains from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia: Taxonomy, Geological Setting, and Age

Leo Gabunia, 1 Abesalom Vekua, 1 David Lordkipanidze, 2* Carl C. Swisher III, 3dagger Reid Ferring, 4 Antje Justus, 5 Medea Nioradze, 2 Merab Tvalchrelidze, 2 Susan C. Antón, 6 Gerhard Bosinski, 5 Olaf Jöris, 5 Marie-A.-de Lumley, 7 Givi Majsuradze, 2 Aleksander Mouskhelishvili 2

Archaeological excavations at the site of Dmanisi in the Republic of Georgia have uncovered two partial early Pleistocene hominid crania. The new fossils consist of a relatively complete cranium and a second relatively complete calvaria from the same site and stratigraphic unit that yielded a hominid mandible in 1991. In contrast with the uncertain taxonomic affinity of the mandible, the new fossils are comparable in size and morphology with Homo ergaster from Koobi Fora, Kenya. Paleontological, archaeological, geochronological, and paleomagnetic data from Dmanisi all indicate an earliest Pleistocene age of about 1.7 million years ago, supporting correlation of the new specimens with the Koobi Fora fossils. The Dmanisi fossils, in contrast with Pleistocene hominids from Western Europe and Eastern Asia, show clear African affinity and may represent the species that first migrated out of Africa.

1 Republic of Georgia National Academy of Sciences, Tbilisi, 380007, Republic of Georgia.
2 Department of Geology and Paleontology, Republic of Georgia State Museum, 3 Purtseladze Street, Tbilisi, 380007, Republic of Georgia.
3 Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
4 Department of Geography, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203, USA.
5 Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz, Germany.
6 Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA.
7 Laboratoire Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: geonathist{at}ip.osgf.ge

dagger    To whom reprint requests should be adressed. E-mail: cswish{at}bgc.org

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