Fossils from Dmanisi, Georgia, show hominins with small brains had already departed Africa by 1.8 million years ago. Stone tools at Shangchen, China, date to 2.1 million years—older still. This suggests repeated migration waves, not one great exodus. Apidima Cave in Greece holds a Homo sapiens fragment at 210,000 years, while Misliya Cave in Israel shows modern humans outside Africa around 185,000 years ago. The picture emerging is far more complex than a single dispersal event.
Dmanisi skulls prove hominins left Africa 1.8 million years ago
Georgia (country)Bioarchaeology
Key facts
- Dmanisi site in Georgia (country) yielded fossilized skulls and stone tools dated to 1.8 million years ago
- Hominins had small brains but had already left Africa nearly 2 million years ago
- Shangchen in China contains stone tools dated to 2.1 million years ago, even older than Dmanisi
- Pattern shows repeated waves of migration out of Africa over millions of years, not one great migration
- Apidima cave in Greece contains Homo sapiens skull fragment dated to 210,000 years ago
- Misliya Cave in Israel shows modern humans outside Africa around 185,000 years ago
Site mentioned
Sources
D3444 - The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Programhumanorigins.si.edu
Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia. Discovered by: A team led by David Lordkipanidze. Age: About 1.77 million years old. Species: Homo erectus · 3D Scans. Old timer.
Dmanisi Hominid Archaeological Sitewhc.unesco.org
Recent excavations of Dmanisi have revealed an extraordinary record of the earliest hominid dispersal beyond Africa (1,75 million years ago).
DMANISI HOMININS —1.8-MILLION-YEAR-OLD HOMO ERECTUS ...factsanddetails.com
The Dmanisi hominins refers to population of early hominins whose fossils were found at Dmanisi, Georgia. The fossils and stone tools found there range in ...
Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Caucasus) dated ...pnas.org
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.
1.8 million-year-old human jawbone unearthed in Georgia reveals ...archaeologymag.com
Scientists digging at the Orozmani site, about 60 miles south of Tbilisi, uncovered a 1.8-million-year-old lower jawbone of Homo erectus. The ...
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