Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Lucy's discovery! On November 24, 1974, Paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson and graduate student Tom Gray were mapping an area of Hadar, Ethiopia when Johanson discovered a forearm bone fragment sticking out of the ground. Three weeks of excavation later, they had collected what would later be known as Lucy, or Dinkʼinesh, the most complete early human skeleton at the time. Curator of Anthropology, Dr. Dirk Van Tuerenhout tells the story of Lucy's discovery, h

3.2 million-year-old Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis), also known as AL 288-1, was found in 1974 at the site of Hadar in Ethiopia. Among those who discovered her fossilized bones is paleontologist Yves Coppens, who passed away this week at the age of 87. A year ago, in his presence, UNESCO 's collection was enriched by the Replica of Lucy offered by #Ethiopia. On this occasion, Yves Coppens explained how this discovery changed our understanding of human evolution, allowing us to realize that pr