The 3.2 to 3.5 million-year-old skeleton provided relevant data to science on the evolution from ape to modern man (Homo sapiens) and was found on November 24, 1974 in the Hadar locality.

In connection with the events held since last January under the slogan “Ethiopia, land of origin”, Johanson considered the name appropriate and thanked the invitation to give the opening speech at a conference that brought together more than 250 scientists from 34 countries.

He highlighted the importance of the Lucy (Dinkinesh in Amharic) find to the understanding of human evolution and how the attention of the scientific community was focused on Ethiopia, a country with a fossil record from six million years ago to the present day.

“So it’s a very important country and helps us understand who we are, where we came from and our place in the natural world,” he said.

Lucy’s fossil remains (only 40% recovered) determined that her age at death was between 14 and 15 years old from her teeth and hip, while the shape of her head and brain primed the chimpanzee.

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