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2w ago

Lucy Fossil Makes First European Appearance in Prague in Rare Ethiopian Loan

The original bones go on limited display through October 23 before returning to Ethiopia’s high-security vault.

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Das mehr als drei Millionen Jahre alte fossile Teilskelett Lucy gilt als bekanntester Vorläufer des Menschen - seit Montag sind die Knochenfragmente erstmals in Europa zu sehen. Die Überreste werden zwei Monate im Tschechischen Nationalmuseum in Prag ausgestellt.

Overview

  • The Czech National Museum opened the display on August 25 in Prague with officials in attendance, including discoverer Donald Johanson.
  • The exhibit presents 52 bone fragments, including parts of the jaw, skull, pelvis and femur, dated to roughly 3.18–3.2 million years.
  • Ethiopia also lent the nearly complete child fossil Selam, which has never been shown outside the country and is thought to predate Lucy by about 100,000 years.
  • Ethiopian officials describe the loan as exceptional, as such originals are usually kept in a high-security vault in Addis Ababa and previously traveled only to U.S. museums from 2007 to 2013.
  • High visitor demand is expected, and the museum advises booking timed-entry tickets, with facial reconstructions of Lucy and Selam on view alongside the originals.