Archeology, the mission of the University of Florence in Georgia to discover hominids from 1.8 million years ago
In Georgia, at the prehistoric site of Dmanisi, with finds of 1.8 million years. The mission of the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Florencecoordinator of the National Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi and co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, continues in the research and study of hominids outside the African continent.
The Italian research work is committed to studying a group in detail the rich fossil fauna associated with human remains to reconstruct, with the greatest possible precision, the environment and ecosystem of which ancient men are a part thus contributing to outlining their eating habits and group dynamics.
3D scanner to digitize the finds
This year’s research has focused on the study of museum collections related to excavations carried out in recent years. In particular, the digitization of the fossil remains thanks to the use of 3D scanners in structured light, a technique that allows the three-dimensional acquisition of all the data relating to the finds and then to continue the in-depth study (and museumization and dissemination to the general public) thanks to the very high definition with which the acquired fossils can be made accessible in virtual reality.
Researchers from the Florentine University in recent months have published a series of studies that will converge in a special volume of the prestigious journal “Journal of Human Evolution”.
Intensive archaeological excavations at Dmanisi began in 1936. Unique remains of prehistoric animals and humans have been uncovered, including the teeth of the extinct rhinoceros Dicerorhinus etruscus etruscus which dates back to the early Pleistocene. Some primitive tools were also found in 1984, which increased international interest in the Georgian site.
© Embassy of Tbilisi