Bolnisi and Dmanisi

In medieval times, Dmanisi was the region’s largest fortified town, an important commercial centre on a volcanic plateau at the crossroads of trading routes and rivers. The large town’s remains occupy a 13-hectare site and include a citadel, baths, a palace and a 6th-century three-nave basilica. Beneath the ruins of the medieval town is a Lower Palæolithic site that is still being excavated and in which five hominid skulls from 1.77 million years ago have been found, giving this region one of the richest archæological patrimonies outside Africa. The small and small-brained hominids whose skulls were found died at different ages and predate Homo Erectus. The most significant finds – tools from 2 million years ago and the skulls – are on show in Tbilisi at the Georgian National Museum which now manages the site at Dmanisi. A Palæoanthropology Field School is held in summer here for students and anyone interested in these studies. www.dmanisi.ge