The environmental contexts of early human occupation of Georgia (Transcaucasia)

The hominid mandible and a third metatarsal found in Dmanisi (Republic of G eorgia) are accompanied by a rich faunal assemblage and a core-chopper ston e tool industry. The mandible represents a somewhat isolated morphological type of Homo erectus that appears, given the combination of its primitive a nd advanced traits and specific dental morphology, to be a forerunner of bo th late H. erectus and early archaic H. sapiens. The faunal assemblage most ly consists of Villafranchian mammals, with the majority of the species ass igned to an early phase of the Upper Villafranchian (Late Villanian and Ear ly Biharian). Faunal and paleobotanical evidence as well. as the deposition al nature of the site indicate that hominid occupation took place in a mosa ic environment of open steppe and gallery forests. Both the concentration o f resources and the warm climatic conditions in the Dmanisi region at the b eginning of the early Pleistocene were favorable for hominid occupation. It is possible that hominids reached the Caucasus through the Levantine corri dor, and that the environment of this region allowed them to establish a st ronghold and later colonize adjacent areas. (C) 2000 Academic Press.