On November 24, 1974, while the famous Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles was playing on a dusty radio, paleoanthropologists Donald Johanson, Yves Coppens and Maurice Taieb found one of the greatest finds in history in the Afar depression. , about 159 kilometers from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia).
Before their eyes, pieces of the skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis from around 3.2 million years ago appeared, a hominid about 20 years old, 110 centimeters tall and weighing 28 kilos (in life) to whom they decided to name Lucy’s relative.
Equipped with a skull similar to that of a chimpanzee, the bones of her pelvis and knee joint stood out because they showed clear evidence that Lucy walked upright on her hind limbs. Despite being bipedal, her arms were relatively robust, indicating that she also moved while hanging from trees.
It took some time for the scientific community to accept these findings. It was not until 1978 that the discovery was accepted. Subsequent excavations in the same place led to the discovery of the remains of six other individuals, two of whom were children of about five years old. But Lucy’s was still the most complete skeleton, with up to 52 bones (40% of the total).
Fifty years after the discovery, the Jagiellonian University of Krakow (Poland) has organized an anthropological exhibition to commemorate the historic discovery and has decided to carry out a spectacular full-body reconstruction of the hominid.
Australopithecus afarensis, whose name in Latin means ‘southern monkey of the Afar region’, inhabited East Africa from about 3.7 million years ago to 1.3 million years ago. The largest number of fossils of these hominids have been found in Ethiopia and Tanzania.
Lucy, found near the village of Hadar, is its most famous representative. Her skeleton was a combination of ape and human features. Her legs were short, her arms long, and her fingers were still adapted to an arboreal lifestyle. Her death is a good example of this: it is believed that she died after a brutal fall from 12 meters high that caused fractures in her hands, ribs, shoulders, knees and pelvis.
During her life, Lucy was able to move in an upright position on two limbs. Her pelvis was practically no different from that of humans. Her arched feet suggest that she walked in a manner similar to that of Homo Sapiens. Her diet was dominated by plants, fruits and seeds, meaning she led a typical forager’s life in the African savanna habitat.
Preparing silicone models for body reconstruction required a lot of time, the Polish researchers say in a statement. In the first stage, it was necessary to study the skeletal structure in depth, which made it possible to build a steel structure.
Layers of plasticine were then applied over this ‘skeleton’ to copy the details of the muscles and skin, with all the wrinkles and folds. Another step consisted of making multiple layers of silicone, the surface of which perfectly imitates the skin, with all its irregularities and discolorations.
Hair was then planted on the nude model, made by Ewa Stawiarska. This laborious work had to be done hair by hair, using a needle and a crochet hook. After some tweaking and characterization, the model was finally ready for display at the Nature Education Center of the Jagiellonian University.
