A palaeoarchaeological site at Dmanisi, unearthed under the medieval layers, has yielded a set of hominin fossils, dated to approximately 1.85 to 1.75 million years ago, one of the earliest unequivocal evidence for presence of the genus Homo outside the African continent.

According to the medieval Georgian chronicles, the caliph's commander Bugha al-Kabir settled 100 Alan households from the Darialan at Dmanisi during his campaign in Kartli in 853.

The Georgian chronicles make mention of the certain Sitlarabi, apparently the corrupted name of Sayyid al-'Arab, a Muslim from Dmanisi who was installed by King Bagrat IV of Georgia as his vassal emir at Tiflis in 1068.

An unnamed "emir of Dmanisi" is known to have supported the Seljuq commander Sau-tegin Sarhang al-Khass—"Sarang Alkhazi" of the Georgian sources[3]—against King George II of Georgia in 1073.

[4] Threatened by the resurgent Georgian monarchy, the Muslim oligarchy of Dmanisi joined the appeal of Ganja and Tiflis to the Seljuq sultan Mahmud II against the encroachments from David IV of Georgia in 1121.

Dmanisi's vibrant economic history is evidenced by more than 800 coins, mostly foreign, found in the area as well as the archaeological artifacts such as imported Iranian faïence and Chinese celadon and locally produced pottery, glassware, and jewelry.

Muslims constituted the single largest group in the town as indicated by a sizable cemetery, with the 13th–14th-century Arabic inscriptions, which numerically surpass the extant Christian—Georgian and Armenian—tombstones.

[4][5][6] Some Muslims left after the Georgian takeover: a sheikh named Sadr ad-Din Hamid b. Ali ad-Damanisi (died 1245) operated a madrasa in Damascus.

King David VIII, being on good terms with the Mongol khan Baydu, was able to retrieve Dmanisi in 1293, but subsequently lost it to his rival brother, Vakhtang III, who was buried in the town on his death in 1308.

In the process it became apparent that medieval pits or cellars had been dug into sand and ash deposits containing prehistoric animal bones and stone tools.

[4] In 1991 a human jaw and teeth showing anatomical similarities to Homo erectus were unearthed, followed by the landmark discovery of a series of skulls between 1991 and 2005.

Dated to approximately 1.85 to 1.75 million years ago, these finds made Dmanisi one of the most ancient human habitation sites anywhere in Eurasia.

[4] The town was defended by a basalt wall, forming a great rampart and fortified with buttresses, on the east and by the Mashavera valley on the north and northwest, going to the depth of 90 metres here.