Announcements, in the press today, indicate that a new fossil tooth 1.8 million years old was discovered at Orozmani in Georgia.
Lead archaeologist, Giorgi Bidzinashvili, holds the presumed Homo erectus tooth, recovered from rock layers dated to 1.8 million years old, unearthed at the site of Orozmani, Georgia, September 8, 2022. The tooth was excavated by Jack Peart, a British archaeology student. Picture credit: Reuters (2022).
Jack Peart excavating at Orozmani in September 2022. Photo credit: Reuters (2022) via screen capture.
The region is already famous for the early the Pleistocene site of Dmanisi where Homo erectus fossils were discovered in 2000. The new site of Orozmani is located about 100 km southwest from capital city Tbilisi, 1200 m above sea level in the Lesser Caucasus. Dmanisi is only 20 km away where the earliest (1.8 million years) hominin (H. erectus) remains outside of Africa were found.
The current site was identified in the early 1960’s when ancient faunal remains were discovered. The first archaeological excavations started in 2019. Early Pleistocene fossils of extinct animals and stone tools (indicating the presence of hominins) were found at the site. The geological deposits at the site are the Mashavera and Orozmani basalts, which are dated to 1.83 Ma. and 1.77 Ma respectively. Dating by Messager et al. (2021).
The first international field school was held in 2021. Excavations revealed hundreds of faunal remains some in anatomical articulation and Oldowan (Mode 1) stone tools. The fossils excavated included, Smilodon, Megantereon Homotherium, Antelope sp. and Elephant.
Articulated antelope skeleton, in the process of excavation at Orozmani. Photo credit: Bidzinashvili (2021).
Elephant pez and antelope jaw, excavated at Orozmani in 2021. Photo credit: Greenboim Rich (2021).
Elephant rib bone under excavation at Orozmani. Photo credit: Greenboim Rich (2021).
Oldowan Hammerstone excavated at Orozmani in 2020. Photo credits (clockwise from top left): Greenboim Rich (2021), all others Bidzinashvili (2021).
References
Bidzinashvili, G. (2021). Orozmani. At: https://mobile.twitter.com/giorgibidzinas5 accessed 10/09/2022
Greenboim Rich, V. (2021). Homo Erectus Vs. Saber Tooth: Archaeology Site Reveals What Early Humans Encountered in Eurasia. Haaretz, at: https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2021-11-14/ty-article/homo-erectus-vs-saber-tooth-archaeology-site-reveals-what-early-humans-encountered-in-eurasia/0000017f-e90c-dea7-adff-f9ff12ab0000 accessed 10/09/2022
Messager, E., Nomade, S., Voinchet, P., Ferring, R., Mgeladze, A., Guillou, H. and Lordkipanidze, D., 2011. 40Ar/39Ar dating and phytolith analysis of the Early Pleistocene sequence of Kvemo-Orozmani (Republic of Georgia): chronological and palaeoecological implications for the hominin site of Dmanisi. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(21-22), pp.3099-3108.
Reuters (2022). Georgian archaeologists find 1.8-million-year-old human tooth. At: https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/oddly-enough/georgian-archaeologists-find-18-million-year-old-human-tooth-2022-09-09/ accessed 10/09/2022
No comments:
Post a Comment