Stone Age Georgia

Due to its geographic location, Southern Caucasus has always been a crossroad of cultures. Early humans have repeatedly occupied this area for the last 2 million years. There are over 500 Paleolithic sites discovered already.

The exhibition displays Stone Age of Georgia (1.77 million - 8 thousand years) as well as anthropological material discovered in other parts of the world, presenting the time flow of human evolution. The introductory part of the exposition presents the paleoenvironments and evolution of the land fauna from the late Miocene (8-5 million years), before evidence of the dispersal of the early hominins to Southern Caucasian territories.

Early human remains dated to 1,770,000 years ago have been discovered in Dmanisi (Kvemo Kartli), Southern Caucasus. These finds are the oldest hominin (early human) fossils found in Eurasia and represent the first locality of human dispersal out of Africa. The Dmanisi hominins (early humans) bear unique information about the early Homo. Today there are 5 crania, 4 mandibles and over 70 postcranial bones (bones from below the head) found in Dmanisi. Additionally, the site is very rich in paleontological finds and stone tools.

There are lots of Paleolithic sites dating from 500,000-8000 years ago from the Georgian territory belonging to different periods. Material recovered in these archaeological sites shows every step of the stone tool development and reveals human adaptive processes in the environment as well as changes in social structure.

This exhibit presents realistic reconstructions of early hominins and the Dmanisi paleoenvironment by world renowned paleoartists such as Elizabeth Daynes, John Gurche, Mauricio Anton and Rodolfo Nogueira.