1.8-Million-Year-Old Human Jawbone Unearthed in Georgia

In Georgia, archaeologists have unearthed a 1.8-million-year-old jawbone belonging to an early human species. They say this will shed light on some of the earliest prehistoric human settlements on the Eurasian continent.

The Georgian archaeological site of Orozmani, smaller than two parking lots but rich in history, has yielded the oldest remains of early humans yet unearthed outside of Africa and provides information about the patterns of Homo erectus, a hunter-gatherer species that scientists believe began migrating about two million years ago.

"The study of the remains of early humans and fossil animals from Orozmani will allow us to determine the lifestyle of the first inhabitants of Eurasia," said Giorgi Bidzinashvili, a professor of Stone Age archaeology at Ilia State University in Tbilisi.

The lower jawbone was discovered about 100 km southwest of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, where archaeologists in 2022 had unearthed a tooth of an early human from the same era. In the nearby village of Dmanisi, 1.8-million-year-old human skulls have previously been found.

Along with this latest find, archaeologists have also discovered animal fossils, including a saber-toothed tiger, elephant, wolf, deer, and giraffe, as well as a cache of stone tools.