Visitors view the exhibit at the lobby of UP Diliman’s Albert Hall. Photo by Jun Madrid (UPSIO)
An iconic collection of prehistoric human remains and stone tools that forever changed theories of human evolution and migration arrived in the University of the Philippines as the travelling exhibit, The Journey of Mankind: The First Humans Out of Africa, formally opened the Diliman leg of its tour on August 8, 2016 at the Albert Hall.
The exhibit features casts of 3 homo erectus skulls found in Dmanisi, Georgia which estimates date back to around 1.8 million years ago, revising the perception that humans left Africa only 1 million years ago. It includes a cast of the iconic ‘Skull 5′, which has been called “the most perfect and un-deformed human fossil in the history of paleoanthropology”. Dmanisi is around 4500 km. from Ethiopia in East Africa, which is considered the cradle of humankind.
Also featured are a set of 5 stone tools, skulls of a sabre-toothed cat and the wolf Canis etruscus, and an elephant molar that date back to the time of the Dmanisi hominids.
UP President Alfredo E. Pascual (4th from left) leads the ribbon-cutting ceremonies with UP officials and honored guests. Photo by Jun Madrid (UPSIO)
The opening of the exhibit was in part a celebration of the 21st anniversary of UP’s Archaeological Studies Program (ASP). In his welcome address, UP President Alfredo E. Pascual congratulated the ASP for “connecting our people with aspects of our heritage that are uniquely ours, and those that we share with the rest of civilization.” He also praised the exhibit’s aims.
‘The Journey of Mankind’, Pascual said, allowed Filipinos to “re-examine the big archaeological questions” that fascinated us growing up. The scientific revelations made in connection with the Dmanisi hominids, as well as findings on their lives and culture, are as meaningful “in the age of social media”, he added, “as they were in the age of stone tools”.
Among the partners brining the exhibit to UP and at least 5 other Philippine universities are: The Traveling Museum PH, the Georgian National Museum, Cozoz, Inc., Crania Heritage Sciences, Inc., the Honorary Consulate of Georgia in the Philippines, and the Honorary Consulate of Ethiopia in the Philippines.
