Photo by Dave Einsel / Getty Images
One of my favorite college classes was ANTH 201: Biological Anthropology. In it we studied evolutionary theory, fossil record of human evolution, primates, and human variation. We learned about the Leakey Family and their many discoveries and, of course, the skeleton that has taken on a personality of her own, Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis to the scientific community). Today, I had the immense pleasure of attending a lecture by Donald Johanson, the paleoanthropologist who is credited with Lucy's unearthing. Though most of the lecture was a recap of what I've learned in 201 and other anthro classes, it was a surreal experience nonetheless: the names and stories I've read in textbooks suddenly fleshed out before me.
Something I didn't know: Johanson didn't name Lucy. It was his girlfriend who suggested it while the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" played during the camp's merrymaking. Johanson even admitted that he wasn't terribly thrilled at first that the name Lucy stuck. The next day the team called it the Lucy site, rather than the Australopithecus site. But now he takes pride in the fact that hers is a household name, ingrained in our culture. And other cultures, for that matter. Lucy is also known as Dinkenesh, which is "You are wonderful" in Amharic, the language spoken in northern Ethiopia where she was found.
Lucy's skeleton is currently being exhibited in NYC's Times Square.
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