Lordkipanidze’s involvement in the ongoing Dmanisi excavation has produced unprecedented insight into the primitive lives of these early hominids. Here, he and fellow scientists carry the remains of an early Homo erectus. Lordkipanidze suspects the contents of the crate they hold may shed light on the earliest traces of a very human trait: empathy.

"We humans are really very interesting in our origin. I would say that human evolution is a mystery. From my childhood, I loved crime stories. I really adored them. My profession somehow resembles a crime story: to find answers to questions which are buried in the ground.