As a part of my birthday weekend I was invited by friends to join them on a road trip to Dmanisi. We brought along my good local friend Luso, who is trying to start a tour business in Kvemo Kartli and a friend visiting from Greece. Dmanisi was fascinating but even more so was the ride down. This is southern Georgia. All the bigger mountains are north. We have a desert to the south east and across the peaks are Armenia. Who would have thought how beautiful the mountains would be just south of me.
The Dmanisi Museum
We found the museum quite a ways from the archeological site. But fortunately we went there first, so we knew what we could expect from the site. The museum was closed even though we checked and it was scheduled to be open on Sunday. Fortunately someone at the building knew someone that had a key, and if we would give him a ride to that person's house, we could get into the museum. Gotta love this country! The museum director was in Canada, so we were toured by an enthusiastic volunteer who gave a wonderful description of the site and history. The Dmanisi archeological site
This was fascinating. The reason it was such a big find in
Dmanisi was that there were 5 skulls all buried together, but previously seen
as separate species.
"Traditionally, researchers have used variation among Homo fossils
to define different species. But in light of these new findings, Dr Lordkipanidze
and his colleagues suggest that early, diverse Homo fossils, with their origins
in Africa, actually represent variation among members of a single, evolving
lineage – most appropriately, Homo erectus.
“Had the braincase and the face of Skull 5 been found as
separate fossils at different sites in Africa, they might have been attributed
to different species,” said Dr Christoph Zollikofer from the Anthropological
Institute and Museum in Zurich, Switzerland, a co-author of the Science paper.
To read more. about
Dmainis archeological site
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| Here are some great Americans enjoying Georgia! |
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| Mike and Marcia's favorite picnic spot |
After lunch we stumbled onto a beautiful poppy field. Then, on to Bolnisi.
Bolnisi. Sioni Cathedral is a
Georgian Orthodox basilica in the Bolnisi village, Georgia. The cathedral was
built in 478–493. It is the oldest church building in existence in Georgia. Bolnisi Sioni Cathedral is known
for its Georgian inscriptions. These are one of the oldest historical documents
of the Georgian alphabet.
I don't know why these scenes still
surprises me: a beautiful country - north, south, east and west.
