After a long debate as to the position of the Dmanisi hominids in the evolutionary tree, the bones were recently dated by the Berkeley Geochronology Center to around 1.75 million years ago. The skulls found from Dminisi appear to be those of the earliest hominids ever to emerge out of Africa.
David Lordkipanidze, who is directing the work, has recently won a Rolex Award for Enterprise for $100,000, and will be devoting the money to providing a dome of steel and glass to protect the site.
This article is an extract from the full article published in World Archaeology Issue 9. Click here to subscribe