Situated on a high, wind-swept volcanic promontory in southern Georgia, the site of Dmanisi stands as the absolute foundational gateway of the human diaspora out of Africa. Excavations at the site recovered a flawless taphonomic sample: five extraordinarily well-preserved hominin skulls, complete postcranial skeletons, primitive stone tools, and thousands of extinct animal bones, all securely sealed beneath a basalt lava layer dated precisely to 1.85 million years ago . This site represents the