Updated January 13, 2024 · 10:00 pm · Reading:
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Nearly fifty years ago, on a Sunday morning in late November 1974, a team of paleoanthropologists led by Donald Johanson and the Frenchmen Yves Coppens and Maurice Taieb, were digging in the remote Afar region of Ethiopia when Johanson came across a tiny bone that looked like part of an elbow. As soon as he saw it he understood that that tiny fragment belonged to an ancient hominid.
But this wasn’t the only bone he discovered. “When I looked to my left I saw little pieces of a skull, a piece of jaw and a couple of vertebrae,” Johanson would later say. That discovery showed something unprecedented: it was, nothing more and nothing less, some skeletal remains are 3.2 million years old. Because of its size, Johanson thought it was a female skeleton, and when at camp at night he put on a Beatles cassette and started playing. Lucy in the sky with diamonds Someone asked her, “Why don’t you call her Lucy?”
The first steps
The researchers realized that the skeleton, 40% complete, belonged to a new species to which they gave a name Australopithecus afarensis (meaning monkey from the south of the Afar region). Based on the study of the recovered bones, they concluded this Lucy was 1.10 meters tall and weighed 28 kilos. while its brain capacity was similar to that of current chimpanzees.
The skeleton, 40% complete, belonged to a new species that the researchers gave a name Australopithecus afarensis.
According to investigators, Lucy may have died due to a falling tree.
According to investigators, Lucy may have died due to a falling tree.
A. Czekaj, A. Pekalski (Jagiellonian University)
Despite Lucy had short legs and long arms. and fingers adapted to an arboreal lifestyle, he was capable of moving in an upright position and his pelvis did not differ significantly from that of modern man. But there were questions to answer. For example, How did Lucia die? In fact, the bones showed multiple fractures, so the researchers suggested that this female may have fallen from a tree.
Since her discovery, Lucy has become one of paleoanthropology’s most high-profile finds, and researchers have attempted to recreate her appearance on numerous occasions. Now, the Nature Education Center of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, has decided make a recreation of the famous australopithecus as part of the section dedicated to human evolution.
The project was created by the sculptress Ewa Stawiarska, of the Kamyk Piotr Menducki company, who made a model of Lucy which will be exhibited together with a Neanderthal and others Standing man. In her work Stawiarska availed herself of the collaboration of the anthropologists Małgorzata Kołodziej, Anna Pankowska and Kamil Mrożek, from the Center for Natural Education, whose profound knowledge of the anatomy of the species was decisive.
Mary Leakey, scientist who revolutionized paleoanthropology
Read the article
A highly complex recreation
Regarding the technique used, the preparation of silicone models to create reconstructions of this type takes a long time. In the first phase it is necessary to study the structure of the skeleton in depth to create a steel frame which will serve to recreate the typical position of a Australopithecus afarensis. Next A prototype must be made on the internal skeleton: layers of plasticine and modeling clay are applied to reproduce muscles and skin, as well as its wrinkles and folds down to the smallest details.
The preparation of silicone models takes a long time and requires an in-depth study of the skeletal structure of the species to be recreated.
According to researchers, Lucy’s appearance may have been the one shown in this recreation.
According to researchers, Lucy’s appearance may have been the one shown in this recreation.
A. Czekaj, A. Pekalski (Jagiellonian University)
The next step is to remove the silicone mold from the model that will be used to make the recreation. The model is made of many layers of silicone which perfectly imitate the skin, its tone and even its imperfections.
The final step consists of Add hair onto the nude silicone model. For this laborious process, a needle and crochet hook are used to sew the hair onto the pattern hair by hair. Finally, only small make-up touches remain. so that the model takes on a life of its own. As in this case, where the impressive work carried out by all involved managed to bring the famous Lucy back to life to the delight of the centre’s visitors.
2024-01-13 21:00:03
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