Awesome Lucy

 

 

 

 

I was in my early twenties in 1974 when the skeletal fossils of an early hominid that came to be known as Lucy was found in Ethiopia--3.2 million years after she had died.  I had finished a year of geology, including a semester of historical geology, and thought I knew something of paleontology, but Lucy turned the paleontological world on end when she was found.  I remember discussing the findings with my father, and speculating on the human family tree.  I never in my life felt I would make it to Ethiopia, nor ever see Lucy's ancient bones, but today in Orange County at the Bowers Museum, I saw Lucy--the real Lucy, travelled across the world, and carefully displayed in her airtight case, with each fragile fossil anatomically placed.  Only 40 percent of Lucy was found, but she changed our way of thinking back then.  So, today, I was in awe, looking down at her.

 

This remarkable experience came about because Liz and I decided to postpone our visit to the Getty Museum until we were based closer to Topanga Canyon.  Holly had told us about the Bower Museum in Orange, and said that it often hosted visiting exhibits.  I had checked it out online, and saw that one exhibit titled "The Legacy of Lucy" was running, so I thought we would visit the museum and see this exhibit.  I never thought that Lucy herself would be here, but she was.  It was a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience!

 

No photography is permitted in the Lucy exhibit, so these web pictures from Wikipedia are the best I can do, but the Bowers displayed a full-sized (about 3.5 feet) reconstruction of the adult Lucy, and this is her haunting image:

 

 

 



The Bower Museum also had many other wonderful exhibits, and non-flash photography was permitted:

 

 

The above exhibits and others from micronesia/polynesia locations including headhunting artifacts, weaponry, and more--all seemed to have a darker side, and we finished those first, then saw the Lucy exhibit, moving on the Mayan works, and California History.  We lunched at the museum restaurant, which was good, then came back to get ready to leave tomorrow.  Tonight we will have dinner with Holly, Lary, and Shane, then  have an early night, we think.