Homo erectus, or ‘upright man’, is considered our earliest ancestor with nearly human-like anatomy and aspects of behaviour. Its fossil remains were first discovered in 1891 on the Indonesian island of Java, but until recently the oldest known Homo erectus fossils, dated to 1.8 million years ago, were from Dmanisi in Georgia, sandwiched between Turkey and Russia on the eastern edge of the Black Sea. Other important fossil finds from East Africa have supported the theory that Homo erectus arose in that part of the continent before migrating into Europe and Asia.
