Archaeologists in Georgia unearth 1.8-million-year-old human jawbone

OROZMANI, Georgia — Archaeologists in Georgia have unearthed a 1.8-million-year-old jawbone belonging to an early species of human that they say will shed light on some of the earliest prehistoric human settlements on the Eurasian continent

OROZMANI, Georgia — Archaeologists in Georgia have unearthed a 1.8-million-year-old jawbone belonging to an early species of human that they say will shed light on some of the earliest prehistoric human settlements on the Eurasian continent.

The Georgian site at Orozmani — smaller than two parking spaces but rich in history — has brought to light the oldest remains of early humans yet excavated outside Africa and offers clues to the patterns of Homo erectus, a hunter-gatherer species that scientists believe started migrating around two million years ago.

“The study of the early human and fossil animal remains from Orozmani will allow us to determine the lifestyle of the first colonizers of Eurasia,” said Giorgi Bidzinashvili, a professor of stone age archaeology at Ilia State University in Tbilisi.

“We think Orozmani can give us big information about humankind.”

An archaeologist works on Aug. 15 at the excavation site in the village of Kvemo Orozmani, Georgia, where a presumably dated 1.8 million-year-old lower jawbone belonging to an early species of human was found.Irakli Gedenidze / ReutersThe lower jawbone was found around 62 miles southwest of the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, where archaeologists in 2022 excavated a tooth from early humans of the same era. In the nearby village of Dmanisi, 1.8-million-year-old human skulls have previously been found.