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David Lordkipanidze first made history in 1991, when he and
his team discovered the earliest hominin fossils ever found
outside Africa in Dmanisi, Georgia. In April he further challenged
existing theories of early evolution with an article in Nature,
suggesting that the social organization of these distant human
ancestors may have been far more complex than was previously
thought. |
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The Lordkipanidze team's initial discovery has forced paleoanthropologists
to revise their theories of human evolution.
Before, it was generally assumed that Europe and Asia were populated
by a fully developed version of Homo erectus, who came from
Africa and evolved into Homo sapiens. But the finds in Dmanisi
appear to be primitive ancestors of Homo erectus, suggesting
that the species in fact evolved outside Africa. |
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It now looks as though these early hominins may have been surprisingly
human. In his latest article, Lordkipanidze describes a skull
found at the site which is almost 1.8 million years old. The
skull not only has no teeth, but nearly all the sockets are
smooth, filled in by bone which grew over the spaces. "I think
he lived for at least two years without teeth," Lordkipanidze
explains. |
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Since these hominins would have had to eat meat to get through
the cold Georgian winters, Lordkipanidze believes this toothless
elder could only have survived with the help of fellow group
members. Unable to chew, he probably had to rely on his companions
to bring him small pieces of meat. "We're looking at perhaps
the first sign of truly human behaviour in one of our ancestors,"
says Lordkipanidze.
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