Archaeologists in Georgia have unearthed a 1.8-million-year-old jawbone belonging to an early species of human that they say will shed light on some of the earliest prehistoric human settlements on the Eurasian continent.
The Georgian site at Orozmani - smaller than two parking spaces but rich in history - has brought to light the oldest remains of early humans yet excavated outside Africa and offers clues to the patterns of Homo erectus, a hunter-gatherer species that scientists believe started migrating around two million years ago.
"The study of the early human and fossil animal remains from Orozmani will allow us to determine the lifestyle of the first colonisers of Eurasia," said Giorgi Bidzinashvili, a professor of stone age archaeology at Ilia State University in Tbilisi.
"We think Orozmani can give us big information about humankind."
The lower jawbone was found around 100 km (62 miles) southwest of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, where archaeologists in 2022 excavated a tooth from early humans of the same era. In the nearby village of Dmanisi, 1.8-million-year-old human skulls have previously been found.
In this latest discovery, archaeologists also found fossils from animals including a sabre-toothed tiger, elephant, wolf, deer and giraffe, as well as a cache of stone tools.
Close study of the jawbone and the animal fossils can yield crucial answers about how early humans evolved after they left Africa, including what they ate and what the climate was like, scientists say.
At the Orozmani excavation site, archaeologists discover new remains of Homo erectus every year.
"My second day (on the dig) I found a nice little ankle bone," said Miles Alexandre, a recent anthropology graduate from the University of Rhode Island in the U.S.
"You go down five centimetres...there's a good chance you're going to find something."
President Donald Trump has said the U.S. has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran warns the key waterway will not reopen while Washing...
Iran will soon join the New Development Bank (NDB), the lender established by BRICS nations, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said in a state ...
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has outlined an expanded vision for the Zangezur Corridor, describing it not simply as a transport route connectin...
One hundred years after the First World War and more than eighty years after the devastation of the Second World War gave rise to the United Nations, humanity once again finds itself living in an age of permanent crisis.
Iran said it was nearing a final pact with Oman defining new shipping lanes between them through the Strait of Hormuz but repeated that the U.S. must meet other conditions.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has surpassed $1.1 billion at the global box office, becoming the highest-grossing film of the director’s career.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran seeks compensation and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
A criminal court in Damascus has sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
Iran will soon join the New Development Bank (NDB), the lender established by BRICS nations, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said in a state media report on Wednesday ahead of a BRICS finance meeting in India.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has outlined an expanded vision for the Zangezur Corridor, describing it not simply as a transport route connecting mainland Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan exclave, but as a future platform for energy, telecommunications and wider regional integration.
Iran will host senior officials from the five Caspian Sea littoral states at a conference in Tehran on 23 September, aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and addressing environmental challenges facing the sea.
Afghanistan and Turkmenistan signed a gas-purchase memorandum for the TAPI pipeline in Herat on Monday, as the two sides pushed for agreement on pricing and faster progress on the regional energy project.
As Russian officials praise Georgia’s “pragmatic” approach towards Moscow, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has explained why he will not describe Russia as an “enemy”.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment