David Lordkipanidze, Head, Georgian State Museum, Georgia
Research: Bio-Cultural Adaptive Strategies and Early Human Disperals Out of Africa
Host: Harvard University
January 2002-May 2002

David Lordkipanidze always loved detective stories. That's what drew him to anthropology, in particular to paleoanthropology, the study of fossilized, erect, biped mammals, or hominids. Exactly how and when these human ancestors left Africa and dispersed has been debated for decades. Lordkipanidze, deputy director of the Georgian State Museum in Tbilisi, in the Republic of Georgia, has played a major role in unraveling the ongoing mystery.

It was long believed that these migrating hominids had rather large brains and used fairly sophisticated tools. Then, between 1999 and 2001, Lordkipanidze and his team unearthed skulls and tools in Dmanisi, Georgia. They were presumed to be the earliest Homo erectus outside of Africa. The 1.7-million-year-old fossils have smaller brains and long, ape-like arms and probably used the primitive tools found at the site.

It wasn't until Lordkipanidze spent four months as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University, however, that he was able to shed new light on human dispersal from Africa. There, he compared his team's results with the Harvard's rich collection of fossil casts and consulted with other experts in paleoanthropology. Lordkipanidze also lectured, visited, and participated in seminars at Harvard, the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois, and the Natural History Museum of New York, all of which helped confirm his findings. He continued to develop valuable connections with organizations such as the National Geographic Society; its magazine produced a cover story on the Dmanisi find and the Leakey Foundation, a sponsor of his team's project since 1999.

However, for Lordkipanidze the benefits of his intensive months in the United States go far beyond professional contacts. "The biggest impact of my stay was seeing the organization and efficiency of American institutions and the broad public support here for science. Georgia is a country in transition from the Soviet model, where everything was decided for us, to a model that requires more initiative.

"Before coming, I knew many of the experts and their institutions, but during this stay I got to see the labs and meet not just scientists but trustees. My dream is to build something closer to the American system of scientific management, including nonprofit organizations that can help support it. This was a very important period of my life in which I felt pushed to accomplish more."

Shortly after returning home, Lordkipanidze realized a dream; the highly regarded magazine Science ran a feature on these discoveries that may provide the missing link in human evolution between Africa, Asia and Europe. He was also promoted to deputy director of the Georgia State Museum. As for the long term, his collaborations continue. The National Geographic Society is sending another editor to Georgia, and the fellows and trustees of the Leakey Foundation will make a site visit and field trips to Dmanisi in 2003.

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