My apologies for not writing any updates for you over the past couple weeks. We have been in Dmanisi majority of the time and have been really busy. Alas, the field season has come and gone and yesterday was our last day in Dmanisi. Reid and Wesley, along with Zack (the field school assistant), left last night around 1:30 for the airport, which we will be doing in two days. A 4:30AM flight is not much to look forward to, but what lies beyond in the rolling countryside of France is well worth the red-eyed sleepiness. :)
With that said, our last few days in Tbilisi will be mostly a chance for us to do some long awaited touristy things, and some shopping. I have purchased many things already, but still have a few things to pick up. I have also somewhat planned out my adventure through the Paris metro system, where I have to change a few trains and then get on a high speed train to Dijon to meet Katie. It should be a hectic morning of rushing around with my giant backpack and suitcase, but hopefully everything will turn out well for me.
As far as the field season went, it was very successful for all involved. We turned up 9 or 10 different hominin specimens, including an upper arm bone and a heel bone, which is the first ever in the fossil record for Homo erectus. They also found an ankle bone a couple years ago and they seem to fit together, or are at least the same size, so they could possibly be the same individual. More study is needed though. Martha and I were the ones who identified the heel bone, as it slipped through everyone else and filtered through to us lowly faunal people. It was a good day for us though, as we had great news to share with our discovery. The arm bone came out of the ground on Tuesday under the audience of about six news stations, the Georgian National Science Foundation big wigs, and the American ambassador, who also joined us for the after party/dinner. There was a large press conference and many great things were said about the cohesion of the Georgian-American partnership and the future of the two country's friendship and alliance. It was a great day for all, and it turned into a great night too.
On a smaller scale, Martha and I accomplished a lot at the site too. We catalogued and identified a couple hundred bones that came out this year, and we are getting a better picture of the site formation. We found many tooth marks on bones and a few cutmarks, so it was a great success. There is a great bed of bones that is ready to be excavated right now but most of it may have to wait until next year. Only the two skulls will come out. See pic below.
On a final note, I am going to be sad to leave this place. Georgia is so beautiful, if you can get past the heat, and the people are wonderful. Mostly, I will miss the friends that I have made and the faces that I have been so used to seeing on a daily basis. I think it is safe to say that of all the cultures in the world, Georgian culture is impossible to find back home and trying to fill this inevitable void will be difficult, but pictures and memories will serve their purpose in the meantime. I hope that I will be able to come back next year, and perhaps many more times in my life. One of my favorite traditional Georgian toasts that I have heard, so far, says in summary, may we live to be 100 and have 100 years of great memories, and I think these memories that I have from here will be cherished all of my life.
Farewell from Georgia, for now. I shall try to write again from elsewhere in Europe.
Nakhvamdis,
Reed
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