The Site
Dmanisi is a very old site of archaeological interest. It is located about 85 km. south west of the modern town Tbilisi in Caucasus of the Republic of Georgia near the confluence of the Rivers Mashavera and Pinezouri. The site is situated on a promontory elevated about 80 m above the confluence of the Mashavera and Pinezaouri River valleys. The site has yielded early cultural remains of the region but it is more famous for the discovery of remains of Homo erectus, who are supposed to be one of the earliest migrants from Africa into Europe. Cultural remains were found in 1983 but since the discovery of first mandible of early man in 1991 it became very famous. Five skulls, four mandibles, post cranial bones and numerous loose teeth were found in precise stratigraphic context together with artifacts and faunal remains. Most of them were discovered from layers IV to VI. Geologically belong to upper Villafranchian in date. The human remains suggest some characters close to Homo habilis and others put them into Homo ergaster group. Dmanisi is the only site in Europe belonging to such an early date.
Geological Features
Work at the site started in 1983 and is still continuing. Just before mankind came to live at Dmanisi, the Mashavera Valley suffered from volcanic eruption and it was filled by 80-100 m of lavas that formed the Mashavera Basalt. This basalt dammed the Pinezaouri Valley, forming a lake about 1 km long, which was located on the south of the site. The deposit yielding artefacts and human skeletal remains lie over the basaltic layer. Thickness of the deposit varies up to a maximum of 3 m. A total area of 300 square meters has been excavated to date. In the exposed sections of the deposit two strata A and B are identified. Stratum A, overlies the Mashavera basalt is dated to 1.85 Ma, had yielded maximum quantity of the faunal materials and hominid remains. The deposit consisted of volcanic silt and fine sand. Maximum number of stone tools came from stratum B. It is dated to 1.7 Ma. The deposit is of weathered volcanic silt and basaltic grey ash. The dates are based on 40 Ar/39Ar Potassium Argon method). At a place named as M5 recent excavation has yielded valuable data (Ferring et al, 2011).
Palaeoecology
Evidence suggest that early hominid lived in a mosaic environment with alternate event of ashfall, soil stabilized by open grassland, a few trees.. Early hominid selected the place because of its warm climatic condition. Palaeobotanical evidences suggest that the climatic condition was warm and dry and resources were plentiful. The place had all the favourable condition for human habitation in the beginning of Pleistocene.
Culture
Hominid remains of Dmanisi reveal that the makers of the culture were of short stature with a cranial capacity of 500-775 cc. It is also revealed from stratigraphic data that the site was inhabited many times and the people were nomadic and mobile. From the beginning of original excavation till date over 1000 artefacts are collected from the site. Flakes dominated the collection but core and pebble tools are also found in good quantity. Flakes are not retouched. Tool making raw materials varied between the two strata. Stratum A consisted of locally available tuff found in the bedrock. Well rounded cobbles and pebbles were collected from distant alluvium deposits. Stratum B tools were mostly made on andesite and basalt, which were rare in Stratum A. Stratum B showed the source of raw material in the outcrops about 15 km. away from the site and as cobbles and gravels in the nearby Mashavera River gravel. The tools found were Oldowan type designated to Mode 1 type. Tool making technology was similar to those of Oldowan from Africa. Discovery of Dmanisi set a new light on population migration during early Pleistocene time with Oldowan like pebble core culture. Ferring et al (2011) had concluded that the site was occupied over and again during the late Olduvai subchronology (ca. 1.85-1.75Ma). The authors have established from the stratification of archaeological sites that Dmanisi was occupied repeatedly for over 80 thousand years indicating a sustained regional group of hominids. Importance of Dmanisi lies in understanding of evolution of man and ancient population migration.
