An Ethiopian discovery

Addisu and Habtam are at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. They have come to find out more about Lucy.

‘Lucy in the sky with diamonds’

Lucy was named after the famous Beatles song. She is one of the oldest hominids ever found. Hominids are primates of a family which includes humans and their fossil ancestors.

Lucy was discovered by four geologists in 1974 at the Hadar excavation site in Ethiopia. They were thrilled to find the 3.5 million year-old fossils. During their celebrations, the song ‘Lucy in the sky with diamonds’ was playing in the background and so Lucy was named.

Addisu and Habtam are proud that this historical discovery was made in their homeland and are intrigued by the information provided at the museum.

Historical breakthrough

Upon examination Lucy’s bones revealed she was a mere three and a half feet tall and most importantly they revealed that she walked erect (standing tall). This epic discovery confirmed theories that hominids walked erect three million years ago.

Lucy was considered unique; she did not fit into the known hominid types.  She was the oldest and most complete hominid that had been found and the revelation that she walked tall was monumental for historians piecing together theories and facts about hominid evolution.