Exhibition: Neanderthals in the South Caucasus

The Georgian National Museum presents the exhibition "Neanderthals in the South Caucasus – Tsutskvati Cave, Old and New Discoveries" at the Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia.

Obtained by Georgian National Museum’s Tsutskvati Cave Archaeological Expedition, the exhibition displays the latest findings of archeological and paleontological excavations.
 
The study of Tsutskhvati's thirteen-tiered cave began last century on the initiative of the Institute of Geography of Georgian National Academy of Sciences. Especially noteworthy from the findings is a Neanderthal baby's chewing tooth found in the cavernous territory, dating back about 50,000 years.

Since 2017, an archaeological expedition of GNM's Tsutskhvati Cave study, with the support of Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, has continued the multidisciplinary research in the framework of the project "Neanderthals in the South Caucasus".

In Tsutskhvati cave, along with traces of Neanderthal existence (middle Paleolithic), completely new, Upper Paleolithic, layers (Late Stone Age - 80000-12000 years) characteristic of Homo sapiens were unearthed as a result of new archaeological works.

The scientific director of the expedition is Nikoloz Tsikaridze, Senior Research Fellow of Georgian National Museum. The exhibition will be open at Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia until February 2, 2020.

By Nini Dakhundaridze