page_title: Dmanisi skull 3
section_title: Morphology
hierarchical_section_title: Dmanisi skull 3 / Morphology
context_page_description: 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. It was dated stratigraphically as about 1.8 million years old.
  Since the publication of the Dmanisi skull 5 in 2013, all of the five Dmanisi skulls have contributed to the ongoing debate on human taxonomy, with some experts proposing the re-categorization of Homo ergaster, and possibly even Homo habilis, as morphologically diverse subspecies of H. erectus.
context_section_description: The skull was found in an exceptionally good condition including a lower jaw (D2735) found about a meter away which is considered to be of the same person. D2700 is smaller than D2282. The fossil was dated stratigraphically, as from a site that was occupied between c. 1.85 and 1.77 million years ago. Its brain size is estimated at 600 cc.
  There are many characteristics in which it resembles H. ergaster (or H. erectus) and also a number that resembles the ER1813. 
  Vekua et al. (2002) concluded:
  In overall shape, D2700 is similar to D2280 and D2282, and D2735 resembles D211. Despite certain differences among these Dmanisi individuals, we do not see sufficient grounds for assigning them to more than one hominid [now, "hominin"] taxon. 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.
  All Dmanisi hominin remains were suggested to have been buried quickly after death. D2700 was found with four upper teeth, while D2735 contained eight teeth. As both fossil hominin remains are jointed, it is found that they ultimately fit one another. D2700's narrow nasal bones were found inferiorly broken from the orbital margins. Because the cranium's upper molars were partially erupted, D2700 is believed to have been the skull of a 13 to 15-year-old individual. It is considered that the skull was of a teenager.
  There is some uncertainty as to the sex of the individual. The smaller size of the D2700 skull compared to skulls D2280 and D2282 suggests as well as its more slender feature suggest female sex, but the very large size of huge upper canines and large crowns have been argued to support classification as male.
caption: Dmanisi skull 3, Fossils skull D2700 and D2735 jaw, two of several found in Dmanisi in the Georgian Caucasus
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