National Museum: Archaeologist stashed Orozmani artefact
National Museum: Archaeologist stashed Orozmani artefact
17:01, 22.09.2022
The National Museum of Georgia stated in a statement that an active museum employee, a participant of an archaeological expedition, took the ancient tooth of a human unearthed in Orozmani, Dmanisi, home on his own initiative and hid it in a closet with no documentation from the museum.
The Museum further stated that it issued the licence to conduct archaeological digs in Orozmani on July 1, 2022. Until September 20, the museum had received no formal notification regarding the expedition’s outcomes or findings.
Since the news of the remarkable discovery became public, the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation alerted the Ministry of Culture’s General Inspection to look into the case.
Questioned by the General Inspection, the employee confessed to keeping the artefact, which was confiscated during the search of the flat and sent over to the National Museum on September 20.
The Guardian reported on the finding of a 1.8 million-year-old tooth belonging to an early type of human by Georgian archaeologists near Orozmani village in Dmanisi. The discovery cemented the region as the site of one of the first prehistoric human settlements in Europe, and maybe anyplace outside of Africa.


By - Elene Dobordjginidze

Culture
tooth
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