The EthioRussian

It was 1974 when Ethiopia’s Afar region (pictured in red) unfolded the oldest hominid fossil known to humanity (until the 2002 find of the “Toumai” skull in Chad). The discovery of this nearly 40% intact, 3.2 million year old female skeleton was celebrated by the paleontologists at the dig site with a song from the Beatles called “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” thus dubbing the skeleton Lucy.

Let’s fast forward to August 2007, and now we are witnessing one of the most well-orchestrated (define it as u please) arrangements for this old traveler of time: Lucy is coming to the Houston Museum of Natural Science… not the replica, the real shyt! I don’t know if I should be feeling happy by realizing that there is a good chance I could get a glimpse, if the exhibit comes nearby during the planned six-year tour, or if I should be sad by the fact that this trip may very well damage this priceless set of bones, and hurt many others in the process.

Where do I begin… since her find in 1974, the real bones were displayed only TWICE to the Ethiopian public. Under all other conditions, the bones were kept locked in a vault somewhere, and a replica was exhibited to the public. And here we are witnessing some kind of arrangement by the Houston museum and the Ethiopian government (for an undisclosed sum might I add, big surprise!). The list of organizations opposed to this is long, we can start with the Smithsonian Institution here, and go all the way down to the poor citizens that LITERALLY woke up one morning to find out that Lucy was swept in the dark of night and placed on a plane out of the country, without notice. Shame is the word that caused the sadness I felt when I learned of this. You have world-renowned paleontologists like Dr. Richard Leaky using the word “prostitution” to describe the tour featuring the fragile remains of this 3′6″ 62 lbs. female of the past.

This is an irreplaceable part of Ethiopian treasure, humanity’s treasure… while so many museums proudly display the replicas of rare finds, why do we drag the original Lucy half-way around the world? why risk it? how much are we making from this? how much of this money is going to trickle down to the people that really need it? Why were people not entitled to learning about this plan ahead of time? Haven’t we learned anything from the 1700 year old Axum obelisk that was finally returned to Ethiopia after being looted 70 years ago? If so much energy and effort is placed into returning an ancient 24 meter tall obelisk, how exactly do we justify the silent taking of a 3.2 million year old fragile resident?

As far as the chance for me to take a glimpse at Lucy is concerned, I yet have to decide if I am going to fund this mockery in the name of science… let’s not get it twisted, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity isn’t it? On a lighter note, enjoy the LSD song… oh I meant “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds on YouTube