Dmanissi
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Dmanissi დმანისი |
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| State : |
 Georgia
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| Region : | Niederkartlien | ||
| Municipality : | Dmanissi | ||
| Coordinates : | 41 ° 19 ′ N , 44 ° 21 ′ E | ||
| Height : | 1,171 m. ü. M. | ||
| Residents : | 2,661 (2014) | ||
| Time zone : | Georgian Time (UTC + 4) | ||
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Dmanissi ( Georgian დმანისი ) is a city in southern Georgia in the Lower Cartlia region , which is about 85 km southwest of the capital Tbilisi .
Dmanissi is the administrative seat of the Dmanissi municipality . The city experienced its heyday in the 12th century. The place became known worldwide through the 1.8 million year old hominine fossils of Dmanissi, which were found in 1991 .
location
Dmanissi is located in front of the Javakheti mountain range on a plateau at the confluence of the Pinesauri River and the Maschawera River at 1171 m . Nearby is the village of Patara Dmanissi .
history
The Dmanissi Plateau was already known before 1991 for thousands of animal fossils that served as reference fossils for the "Upper Villanium " in Central Europe , an epoch 2.5 to 1.3 million years ago. Since 1991, the plateau has become famous for paleontological finds, in which over 50 body skeleton parts and stone artifacts have been discovered on an area of only 150 square meters , which can be dated to an age of 1.75 million years. Efforts are being made to have the excavation site included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural monument .
In 2001 scientists from the Georgian Academy of Sciences and the Roman-Germanic Central Museum , Mainz , excavated the skull of a 1.8 million year old early man. It was the oldest secured find of the genus Homo outside the African continent. The discussion as to whether it is an early Homo erectus , a late Homo habilis or even a new species ( " Homo georgicus " ) has not yet been concluded. The head of the excavation was initially Prof. Léo Gabounia and, after his death, one of his students, the general director of the Georgian National Museum , David Lordkipanidze .
The historical name of the Dmanissi area was Bashkitscheti. The city of Dmanissi was a city inhabited by Christians, which lay on the ancient Silk Road between Byzantium and trading centers in Armenia and Persia . It was laid out in the 5th century at the latest and was protected by a fortress.
The remains of a Bronze Age settlement have now been discovered among the medieval ruins .
museum
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In September 2009, important parts of the excavation area were roofed over with a modern wood / steel construction and observation areas for visitors were set up under this. Neighboring Bronze Age and Medieval excavation areas were also made accessible to visitors by means of plank paths . A visitor center is also planned.
In 1989 a branch of the Georgian National Museum was set up to preserve the excavations and make them accessible to the public. It presents a collection of medieval ceramics, glasses, metalwork and coins. The prehistoric bones of animals and humans found in Dmanissi are on display in the State Simon Janaschia Museum in Tbilisi.
literature
- Gerhard Bosinski , David Lordkipanidze, Konrad Weidemann: The ancient Paleolithic site of Dmanisi (Georgia, Caucasus). In: Yearbook of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum Bonn. 42, 1995, ISSN 0076-2741 , pp. 21-203.
- LK Gabunia et al .: New hominid finds from the ancient Paleolithic site of Dmanisi (Georgia, Caucasus) in the context of current excavation results. In: Archaeological correspondence sheet. 29, 1999, pp. 451-488.
- Gabunia, LK et al. (2000): A. Earliest Pleistocene Hominid Cranial Remains from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia: Taxonomy, Geological Setting, and Age. Science 288, 1019-1025.
- LK Gabunia et al .: New finds of prehistoric humans from Dmanisi (East Georgia). In: Yearbook of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum Mainz. 46, 2000, pp. 23-38.
- LK Gabunia et al .: Découverte d'un nouvel hominid à Dmanissi (Transcaucasie, Géorgie). In: Comptesrendus de l'Académie des sciences Paris. Palevol 1, 2002, pp. 243-253.
- T. Garcia: Cadres stratigraphique, magnétostratigraphique et géochronologique des hominidés fossiles du site de Dmanisi en Géorgie . Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris 2004.
- A. Vekua et al .: A New Skull of Early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia. In: Nature. 297, 2002, pp. 85-89.
