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Discovery Of Lucy Research Paper

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The discovery of Australopithecus afarensis or “Lucy” is to this day one of the most influential discoveries in anthropology. Lucy was found on November 24th, 1974 at the site of Hader in the country of Ethiopia by Donald C.Johanson and Tom Gray ( Kimbel, W. H., PhD. (n.d.). Lucy's Story. Retrieved November 27, 2017, from https://iho.asu.edu/about/lucys-story#die’). This paper will look at the discovery of “Lucy” and focus on the importance and the impact it had on fossil species. Expanding on both how “Lucy” was found, how they found it, how old it was and proving major points throughout the essay including a reference map of the site of Australopithecus afarensis.

Summary Of “Lucy”
To summarize the finding of Lucy, research started in the …show more content…

As previously stated the region from Afar had been up until then remote and untouched due.The area itself proved to have a “paleoanthropoligically promising geological outcrop” (Johanson, D. C. (2004). Lucy, Thirty Years Later: An Expanded View of Australopithecus afarensis. Journal of Anthropological Research, 60(4), 465-486. doi:10.1086/jar.60.4.3631138, pp 467) and the team itself focused on the specific area of Hadar. The research team choose Hadar based on several reasons.. The formation proved to be fossil-rich which meant that skeletons were preserved due to “low energy paleosedimentary environment” (Johanson, D. C. (2004). Lucy, Thirty Years Later: An Expanded View of Australopithecus afarensis. Journal of Anthropological Research, 60(4), 465-486. doi:10.1086/jar.60.4.3631138, pp 467) which meant that this would allow the researchers to recover and discover preserved or complete fossils. Due to the Hardar formation being surrounded by sand and tephra proved well for geological deposits for collection, proof also of volcanic activity proved for the team of the possibility of volcanic glass which could then be used for chronometric dating which proved crucial in the research. Lastly due to the almost untouched area of Hadar due to its remoteness allowed the team to document and recount geological change over the area itself in time and the fact that if any hominids would have been …show more content…

The discovery of Australopithecus afarensis was found on November 24th, 1974 in Ethiopia of the site of the Hadar formation by researchers Donald C.Johanson and Tom Gray ( Kimbel, W. H., PhD. (n.d.). Lucy's Story. Retrieved November 27, 2017, from https://iho.asu.edu/about/lucys-story#die’).Within the Hadar formation, hundreds of fossils were found but the skeleton of “ Lucy” came to be from her uniqueness as all the fossils which had been found matched no other bones of hers within the surface site. As stated “Lucy” was hominid and was put with the “ first family” which were called Australopithecus afarensis. As stated in previous paragraphs Lucy was found in the third-degree formation making her the youngest fossil found within the Hadar formation and giving researchers crucial information of early humans. Through both Lucy molars and Argon-Argon dating through volcanic ash researchers found that “ Lucy” was over 3.18 million years old which proved groundbreaking in anthropology and the world, we know today in understanding how humankind has

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