This suggestion, and the significance of the fossils, was confirmed once the basalts lying directly below the Pleistocene sediments were determined to be about 1.8 million years old. Had the braincase and face of Skull 5 been found as separate fossils at different localities, it is likely that they would have been attributed to different species. Although initially described as a population of the otherwise African species Homo ergaster, or potentially en early offshoot of later Asian H. erectus, the taxonomic status of the Dmanisi hominins is somewhat unclear due to their small brain size, primitive skeletal architecture, and the range of variation exhibited between the skulls. [20], Together, the fossils at Dmanisi represent the most complete and richest collection of early Homo fossils at a single site with a comparable temporal context. ", "Shaping Humanity: How Science, Art, and Imagination Help Us Understand Our Origins" (book by John Gurche), What Does It Mean To Be Human? There is some uncertainty as to the sex of the individual. The researchers pointed out that although the use of quadrinomials is not regulated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, it is not considered invalid. The favorable climate at Dmanisi might have acted as a refuge for hominins in the Early Pleistocene and it would have been reachable from Africa through the Levantine corridor. Its brain size is estimated at 600 cc. [4], The classification of the Dmanisi hominins is disputed and a discussion on whether they represent an early form of H. erectus, a distinct species of their own dubbed H. georgicus or something else entirely are ongoing. Some palaeoanthropologists still view the name H. georgicus as more appropriate, either for some,[12] or all of the fossils.[13]. [68], Humeral torsion (the angle formed between the proximal and distal articular axis of the humerus) influences the range of movement and the orientation of the arms relative to the torso. [19] Postcranial fossils comprise bones from all parts of the body and include parts of the arms,[20] legs,[21] axial skeleton (vertebrae and ribs)[21] and feet. The contours of the Pleistocene sediments indicate that relatively little time passed between the deposition of this volcanic rocks and the deposition of the newer sediments. Dmanisi looks more like Homo habilis, the creatures that started making primitive tools 2.4 million years ago in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. The Dmanisi team wrote that Schwartz, Tattersall and Chi had deliberately ignored previous morphological analyses and also noted that character state variation in Asian and African Homo specimens, and the Dmanisi fossils, suggest that the fossil cannot be assigned to different species, accusing Schwartz, Ttaersall and Chi of effectively denying the morphological evidence from the Dmanisi fossils that did not fit with their hypothesis.

Both Skull 3 and Skull 4 were noted as preserving a series of very primitive characteristics. gr. This conclusion was reached since all the Dmanisi hominin fossils come from the same spatial and temporal context and because new analyses of the fossil material showed that the Dmanisi skulls were within the range of variation shown in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes troglodytes, P. t. verus, and P. t. schweinfurthii), bonobo (P. paniscus) and modern human samples. Because of long-lasting periods of rainfall, the site of the excavation was damaged. ][citation needed] proposing the re-categorization of Homo ergaster, and possibly even[citation needed] Homo habilis, as morphologically diverse subspecies of H. erectus. The final skull, Skull 5 (D4500), was discovered in 2005. The length and morphology of their legs was essentially modern and they would have been adapted to long-range walking and running, but their arms were likely more similar to the arms of Australopithecus than to later hominins. There are many characteristics in which it resembles H. ergaster (or H. erectus) and also a number that resembles the ER1813. Hominins would probably have reached Georgia through the Levantine corridor, which already existed at this time.

Gabunia and colleagues noted that although the cranial capacities of the Dmanisi skulls was lower than the average of H. ergaster, the skulls differed from early Homo such as H. habilis and H. rudolfensis in a number of traits that more closely aligned the fossils with H. ergaster. We view the new specimen as a member of the same population as the other fossils, and we here assign the new skull provisionally to Homo erectus. On an anatomical ground, they argued that the Dmanisi hominins were close to the "stem" of H. erectus, with other H. erectus groups being more derived, and that the Georgian population could potentially be ancestral to later branches of the species in Asia. D2700, also known as Dmanisi skull 3, is one of five skulls discovered in Dmanisi, Georgia in 2001 and classified as early Homo erectus.It is an almost complete skull and is in an exceptionally good condition.