View source for Dmanisi

{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Dmanisi
| native_name        = დმანისი<br>Başkeçid
| native_name_lang   = ka
| settlement_type    = Town
| image_skyline      = Cesko Dmanisi.jpg
| image_caption      = Election administration office
| imagesize          = 280px
| pushpin_map        = Georgia#Georgia Kvemo Kartli
| pushpin_mapsize    = 280px
| image_flag         = 
| image_seal         = 
| map_caption        = Location of Dmanisi in Georgia
| subdivision_type   = [[Countries of the world|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = {{Flag|GEO|name=Georgia}}
| subdivision_type1  = [[Region]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Kvemo Kartli]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[Districts of Georgia (country)|District]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Dmanisi District|Dmanisi]]
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_total_km2     = 
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_water_km2     = 
| population_as_of   = 2024
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://geostat.ge/media/61960/1-3-population-by-cities-and-boroughs.xlsx |title=Population by regions |publisher=National Statistics Office of Georgia |access-date=29 April 2024 }}</ref>
| population_total   = 3050
| population_density_km2 = 
| timezone           = Georgian Time
| utc_offset         = +4
| timezone_DST       = <!-- No DST in Georgia since 2005 -->
| utc_offset_DST     = +5
| coordinates        = {{coord|41|19|54|N|44|12|13|E|region:GE|display=it}}
| elevation_m        = 1250
| blank_name         = 
| blank_info         = 
| website            = 
| footnotes          = 
| pushpin_relief     = y
| module             = {{Infobox mapframe |wikidata=yes |zoom=10|frame-height=260 | stroke-width=1 |coord={{coord|41|19|54|N|44|12|13|E|region:GE|display=i}}}}
}}

'''Dmanisi''' ({{lang-ka|დმანისი|tr}}, {{IPA|ka|dmanisi|pron}}, {{langx|az|Başkeçid}}) is a [[town]] and [[archaeological site]] in the [[Kvemo Kartli]] region of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital [[Tbilisi]] in the river valley of [[Mashavera]]. 

Abandoned in the 1700s, Bashkichet (Башкичети) was resettled in 1844 to 2000 by Russian sectarian ''[[Doukhobors|Dukhobortsy]]'' exiled from [[Taurida Governorate]]. It was renamed Dmansi (Дманиси) from the ancient Mongol ''duman'', menaing "military or administrative unit".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kalmakoff |first1=Jonathan |title=Dmansi |url=https://doukhobor.org/pn-detailsab62.html?rec=114 |website=The Doukhbor Gazatteer |publisher=Doukhbor Heritage |access-date=21 March 2025}}</ref>   

It is the site of [[Dmanisi Hominid Skulls]], which are dated to 1.8 [[Megaannum|million years ago]], making them the earliest dated human remains in Eurasia.<ref name="doi10.1073/pnas.1106638108">1.85-1.78 Ma [[95% CI]]. {{Cite journal | last1 = Ferring | first1 = R. | last2 = Oms | first2 = O. | last3 = Agusti | first3 = J. | last4 = Berna | first4 = F. | last5 = Nioradze | first5 = M. | last6 = Shelia | first6 = T. | last7 = Tappen | first7 = M. | last8 = Vekua | first8 = A. | last9 = Zhvania | first9 = D. | last10 = Lordkipanidze | first10 = D. | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1106638108 | title = Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Caucasus) dated to 1.85-1.78 Ma | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume = 108 | issue = 26 | pages = 10432–10436 | year = 2011 | pmid =  21646521| pmc = 3127884| doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Garcia 2010">Garcia, T., Féraud, G., Falguères, C., de Lumley, H., Perrenoud, C., & Lordkipanidze, D. (2010). "Earliest human remains in Eurasia: New 40Ar/39Ar dating of the Dmanisi hominid-bearing levels, Georgia". Quaternary Geochronology, 5(4), 443–451. doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2009.09.012</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.288.5468.1019 | doi=10.1126/science.288.5468.1019 | title=Earliest Pleistocene Hominid Cranial Remains from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia: Taxonomy, Geological Setting, and Age | year=2000 | last1=Gabunia | first1=Leo | last2=Vekua | first2=Abesalom | last3=Lordkipanidze | first3=David | last4=Swisher | first4=Carl C. | last5=Ferring | first5=Reid | last6=Justus | first6=Antje | last7=Nioradze | first7=Medea | last8=Tvalchrelidze | first8=Merab | last9=Antón | first9=Susan C. | last10=Bosinski | first10=Gerhard | last11=Jöris | first11=Olaf | last12=Lumley | first12=Marie-A.-de | last13=Majsuradze | first13=Givi | last14=Mouskhelishvili | first14=Aleksander | journal=Science | volume=288 | issue=5468 | pages=1019–1025 | pmid=10807567 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> A [[Dmanisi Hominid Skulls|series of skulls]] which had diverse physical traits, discovered at Dmanisi in the early 2000s, led to the hypothesis that many separate species in the genus ''Homo'' were in fact a single lineage.<ref>[http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/10/18/2013/new-fossil-may-trim-branches-of-human-evolution.html New Fossil May Trim Branches of Human Evolution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924095426/http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/10/18/2013/new-fossil-may-trim-branches-of-human-evolution.html |date=2015-09-24 }}, Science Friday, Oct 18, 2013.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/anthropology/science-dmanisi-human-skull-georgia-01474.html|title=Dmanisi Human: Skull from Georgia Implies All Early Homo Species were One {{!}} Anthropology {{!}} Sci-News.com|work=Breaking Science News {{!}} Sci-News.com|access-date=2018-01-30|language=en-US}}</ref> Also known as Skull 5, [[Dmanisi skull|D4500]] is the fifth skull to be discovered in Dmanisi.

== History ==
The area around the town of Dmanisi has been settled since the [[Early Bronze Age]]. In the 6th century an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] cathedral named "[[Dmanisi Sioni cathedral|Dmanisi Sioni]]" was built there. The oldest written record of the town is in the 9th century as a possession of the [[Arab]] [[emirate of Tbilisi]]. Located on the confluence of trading routes and cultural influences, Dmanisi was particularly important, growing into a major commercial center of medieval Georgia. The town was taken by the [[Seljuk Turks]] in the 1080s and by the Georgian kings [[David the Builder]] and [[Demetre I of Georgia|Demetrios I]] between 1123 and 1125. The [[Turco-Mongol]] armies under [[Timur]] laid waste to the town in the 14th century. Sacked again by the [[Turkoman invasions of Georgia|Turkomans]] in 1486, Dmanisi never recovered and declined to a scarcely inhabited village by the 18th century. The castle was controlled by the [[House of Orbeliani]].

== Archaeological site ==
{{main|Dmanisi historic site}}
[[Image:დმანისის სიონი 02.jpg|left|thumb|[[Dmanisi Sioni cathedral]], part of the [[Dmanisi historic site]].]]
[[File:Dmanisi. Western outskirts of the town (Photo A. Muhranoff, 2011).jpg|thumb|View of Dmanisi from across the Mashavera river.]]
Extensive archaeological studies began in the area in 1936 and continued in the 1960s. Beyond a rich collection of ancient and medieval artifacts and the ruins of various buildings and structures, unique remains of prehistoric animals and humans have been unearthed. Some of the animal bones were identified by the Georgian paleontologist A. Vekua with the teeth of the extinct rhino ''[[Dicerorhinus etruscus]] etruscus'' in 1983.

This species dates back presumably to the early [[Pleistocene]] epoch. The discovery of primitive stone tools in 1984 led to increasing interest to the archaeological site. In 1991, a team of Georgian scholars was joined by the [[Germany|German]] archaeologists from [[Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum]], and later the [[United States|U.S.]], [[France|French]] and [[Spain|Spanish]] researchers.

===''Homo erectus georgicus''===
{{Further|Homo erectus georgicus}}

Early human (or [[hominin]]) fossils, originally named ''Homo georgicus'' and now considered ''Homo erectus georgicus'', were found at Dmanisi between 1991 and 2005.  At 1.8 million years old, they are now believed to be a subspecies of ''[[Homo erectus]]'' and not a separate species of ''[[Homo]]''.  These fossils represent the earliest known human presence in the [[Caucasus]].

Subsequently, four fossil skeletons were found, showing a species primitive in its skull and upper body but with relatively advanced spines and lower limbs. A 2017 study suggests they represent a stage soon after the transition from ''[[Homo habilis]]'' to ''Homo erectus''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rightmire |first1=G. Philip |last2=Ponce de Leon |first2=Marcia |last3=Lordkipanidze |first3=David |last4=Margvelashvilli |first4=Ann |last5=Zollikofer |first5=Christophe |title=Skull 5 from Dmanisi: Descriptive anatomy, comparative studies, and evolutionary significance |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |date=2017 |volume=104 |pages=50–79}}</ref>

Human habitation in the Caucasus goes back to the remotest antiquity.  The hominin remains discovered in 1991 by [[David Lordkipanidze]] at Dmanisi, [[Kvemo Kartli]] (1.8 million years old) are the oldest found outside Africa.<ref>(Zatiashvili, 2008)</ref> [[Neanderthal]] remains have been found at Ortvale K’lde (1973) and elsewhere in the Caucasus (36,000–50,000 years old).

The Dmanisi hominin remains are still making an impact on the paleontological community. {{as of|2014}} the [[Dmanisi skull|Dmanisi skull 5]] is in the middle of the controversy: many hominin fossils formerly thought to be different species may not have been separate species at all. Several early members of the genus Homo were possibly one evolving [[Lineage (evolution)|lineage]].<ref>[http://www.nature.com/news/skull-suggests-three-early-human-species-were-one-1.13972 Skull suggests three early human species were one: Nature News & Comment]</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:ქ.დმანისი სამხრეთ-აღმოსავლეთი მხარე.jpg
File:Dmanisi Sioni cathedral.JPG|[[Dmanisi Sioni cathedral]]
File:Dmanisi sioni Cathedral.JPG
File:National Food Agency in Dmanisi, Georgia.jpg|National Food Agency in Dmanisi
File:Dmanisi Pentecostal Church 2.jpg|Dmanisi Pentecostal Church
</gallery>

== See also ==
*[[Prehistoric Georgia]]
*[[Human evolution]]
*[[List of human evolution fossils]]
*[[Kvemo Kartli]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.dmanisi.ge/ Dmanisi archaeological site]
* Kalmakoff, Jonathan J. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928164012/http://www.doukhobor.org/pn-details.html?rec=114 Doukhobor Genealogy Website] 
*{{cite web |first=Jim |last=Foley |date=13 January 2009 |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/d2700.html |title=Skull D2700 |publisher=[[TalkOrigins Archive]] |access-date=9 September 2009}}
* {{cite news |first=Steve |last=Connor |date=9 September 2009
|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/a-skull-that-rewrites-the-history-of-man-1783861.html |title=A skull that rewrites the history of man |work=[[The Independent]] |access-date=9 September 2009}}

{{Cities and towns in Georgia (country)}}
{{Prehistoric technology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Kvemo Kartli]]
[[Category:Prehistoric sites in Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Former populated places in the Caucasus]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Kvemo Kartli]]
[[Category:Tiflis Governorate]]