This skull will put our prehistory of the mind? - Gazeta Wyborcza

Taking excavations David Lordkipanidze of the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi saw with 5 August 2005 – on his 42nd birthday. It was a very precious gift: the best preserved and most complete skull of this early period of human history. When the researchers cleared it with earth and dust strongly surprised.

Nothing is so wrong. If the bones are separately, would be assigned to different species of early humans. As mentioned Lordkipanidze, one of the researchers even joked: – We should put the skull back into the ground.

Instead, the researchers spent eight years on the analysis of the “world’s first fully-preserved skull of an adult hominid these early times” . Friday’s “Science” brings the results of these studies. These included not only the latest discovery, called “skull No. 5″, but also the bones and skulls belonging to four others found earlier in this space pre-human (presumably their bodies were dragged in place of discovery by predators, and the biggest threat to people then were saber-toothed tigers and now extinct great cheetahs). It is currently the oldest remains of human ancestors found outside Africa, dated to 1.8 million years ago.

They had a small stature, small brains, but the body proportions similar to our own, could also have two legs to traverse long distances, they used primitive stone tools, including cleansing animals. Analysis of scientists confirmed that these five skulls is quite different from one another, but not more than five skulls of modern humans or five chimpanzees. So, while so different, probably belong to a single species. But which one?

Researchers tend to phrase that people from Dmanisi were among the early line upright man (Homo erectus). What’s more, they draw from their analysis even more general and courageous proposal. They suggest that to be found in Africa remains from that time that were previously assigned to different species of early Homo (habilis, rudolfensis or ergaster), I actually also belong to one species – Homo erectus is that despite its small brain has an amazing ability to adapt to different environments. Roughly 2 million years ago, moved from Africa to conquer the world, including hit to Dmanisi, then settled in China and Java.

– Most of the finds from this period in Africa is far from complete, the fragmented bones from many places and from different periods – says co-author Christoph Zollikofer of the University of Zurich. – Therefore, it is difficult to determine with certainty whether belonged to many species, and to one, although diverse.

Not everyone agrees with such a broad interpretation of the finds from Dmanisi, though no doubt considered to be one of the most important paleontological discoveries in history. For example, Fred Spoor of University College London argues that the method of analysis used by the researchers are insufficient to be able to include Homo habilis, ergaster rudolfensis and to one species.

Also, Chris Stringer of London’s Natural History Museum told the BBC that researchers finds from Dmanisi their hypotheses go too far: – The fact is that only the line of Homo erectus reached the evolutionary success, leading to Homo sapiens. But with the beginning of the branches on our family tree was more natural need to experiment.