Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T21:16:02.057Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

New paleomagnetic data from the hominin bearing Dmanisi paleo-anthropologic site (southern Georgia, Caucasus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

M. Calvo-Rathert ,
A. Goguitchaichvili ,
D. Sologashvili ,
J.J. Villalaín ,
M.F. Bógalo ,
A. Carrancho  and
G. Maissuradze
M. Calvo-Rathert*
Affiliation:
Dpto. Física, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Univ. Burgos, Av. Cantabria, s/n, 09006 Burgos, Spain
A. Goguitchaichvili
Affiliation:
Lab. Interinstitucional de Magnetismo Natural, Inst. Geofisica, Sede Michoacan, UNAM, Morelia, Mexico
D. Sologashvili
Affiliation:
Department of Geophysics, Ivane Javakhishvili Sate University of Tbilisi, Georgia
J.J. Villalaín
Affiliation:
Dpto. Física, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Univ. Burgos, Av. Cantabria, s/n, 09006 Burgos, Spain
M.F. Bógalo
Affiliation:
Dpto. Física, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Univ. Burgos, Av. Cantabria, s/n, 09006 Burgos, Spain
A. Carrancho
Affiliation:
Dpto. Física, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Univ. Burgos, Av. Cantabria, s/n, 09006 Burgos, Spain
G. Maissuradze
Affiliation:
Geological Institute, Georgian Academy of Sciences, M. Alexidze Str. 1, 380093 Tbilisi, Georgia
*
*Corresponding author.E-mail address:[email protected] (M. Calvo-Rathert).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Dmanisi site has yielded human remains and lithic industry associated with Late Pliocene–early Pleistocene fauna. The site is composed of volcanogenic sediments overlying basaltic lava flows. The lithostratigraphic sequence comprises two basic depositional units: Unit A, overlying the basalt flows, and Unit B on top. A paleomagnetic and rock-magnetic study has been carried out on 106 specimens from Units A and B and the uppermost basalt flow. The lava and Unit A provide normal polarities, while reversed polarities and anomalous directions are observed in Unit B, the latter probably due to overlapping of a secondary and a primary reversed polarity component. The lower part of the section shows a clear correlation with the Olduvai subchron, and the upper levels could be as young as 1.07 Ma. As human remains were found both in units with normal and reversed polarity, different non-contemporaneous human occupations might have been possible.

Keywords

PaleomagnetismPliocenePleistoceneDmanisiHuman evolutionCaucasus
Type
Short Paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , January 2008 , pp. 91 - 96
Copyright
Elsevier Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dzaparidze, V., Bosinski, G., Bugianishvili, T., Gabunia, L., Justus, A., Klopotovskaya, N., Kvavadze, E., Lordkipanidze, D., Majsuradze, G., Mgeladze, N., Nioradze, M., Pavlenishvili, E., Schmincke, H.U., Sologashvili, D., Tushabramishvili, D., Vekua, A., (1991). Der altpaläolithische Fundplatz Dmanisi in Georgien. Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 36, 67–116.Google Scholar
Gabunia, L., Vekua, A., Lordkipanidze, D., Swisher, C. III, Ferring, R., Justus, A., Nioradze, M., Tvalchrelidze, M., Anton, S., Bosinski, G., Jöris, O., Lumley, M.A., Maisuradze, G., Mouskhelishvili, Aleksander, (2000). Earliest Pleistocene hominid cranial remains from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia: Taxonomy, geological setting and age. Science 208, 1019–1025.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gabunia, L., Anton, S., Lordkipanidze, D., Vekua, A., Justus, A., Swisher, C. III, (2001). Dmanisi and dispersal. Evolutionary Anthropology 10, 158–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garcia, T., (2004). Cadres stratigraphique, magnetostratigraphique et geochronologique des hominides fósiles du site de Dmanissi en Georgie. PhD Thesis. Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. 233 pp.Google Scholar
Gradstein, F., Ogg, J., Smith, A., (2004). A Geologic Time Scale. Cambridge University Press, (588 pgs).Google Scholar
Goguitchaichvili, A., Parès, J.M., (2000). A recognition paleomagnetic study of volcanic and sedimentary rocks from Dmanisi (Caucasus): Implications for the oldest human occupation in Europe. Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences de la Terre et des Planètes, Paris 331, 183–186.Google Scholar
Kirschvink, J.L., (1980). The least squares line and plane and the analysis of paleomagnetic data. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 62, 699–718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lumley, H., Lordkipanidze, D., Féraud, G., Garcia, T., Perrenoud, C., Falguères, C., Gagnepain, J., Saos, Th., Voinchet, P., (2002). Datation par la méthode 40Ar/39Ar de la couche de cendres volcaniques (couche VI) de Dmanissi (Géorgie) qui a livré des restes d'hominidés fósiles de 1,81 Ma.. Comptes Rendus Palevol 1, 181–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maissuradze, G., Pavlenshvili, E., Schmincke, H.U., Sologashvili, D., (1991). Paläomagnetik und die Datierung der Basaltlava, In: Dzaparidze, et al., Der altpaläolithische Fundplatz Dmanisi in Georgien. Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 36, 74–76.Google Scholar
Mallol, C., (2004). Micromorphological observations from the archaeological sediments of Ubeidiya (Israel), Dmanisi (Georgia) and Gran Dolina-TD10 (Spain) for the reconstruction of hominid occupation contexts. PhD Thesis, Harvard University, , Cambridge., Massachusetts, 259 pp.Google Scholar
McElhinny, M.W., McFadden, P.L., (1997). Paleosecular variation over the past 5 Ma based on a new generalized database. Geophysical Journal International 131, 240–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parés, J.M., Pérez-González, A., Rosas, , Benito, A., de Castro, J.M. Bermúdez, Carbonell, E., Huguet, R., (2006). Matuyama-age lithic tools from the Sima del Elefante site, Atapuerca (northern Spain). Journal of Human Evolution 50, 163–169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rightmire, G.P., Lordkipanidze, D., Vekua, A., (2006). Anatomical descriptions, comparative studies and evolutionary significance of the hominin skulls from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia. Journal of Human Evolution 50, 115–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmincke, H.U., van den Bogaard, P., (1996). Die Datierung des Masavera Basaltstroms. Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 42, 75–76.Google Scholar
Sologashvili, D., Pavlenshvili, E., Gogichaishvili, A., (1995). Zur Frage der Paläomagnetischen Stratigraphie einiger junger Vulkanite und Sedimentgesteine im Masavera-Becken. Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 42, 51–74.Google Scholar
Zhu, R., An, Z., Potts, R., Hoffman, K., (2003). Magnetostratigraphic dating of early humans in China. Earth-Science Reviews 61, 341–359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar