FINDING LUCY – OUR 3.5 MILLION-YEAR-OLD ANCESTOR
The 1972 and 1973 International Afar Research Expeditions were groundbreaking in what they discovered. The presentation on September 10 by Gene Dole will discuss his personal involvement in the expeditions, the formation of the first truly multinational paleontological research team, the geological background of the site, getting to the site, camp life, how fossils were discovered and the people of the Ethiopian Afar.
Then the lecture will discuss dating the site biostratigraphicly and radiometricly, the excavation of numerous hominid fossils including the world-famous Lucy, what early human ancestors were found and their impact on the field’ of paleoanthropology. There are photos of Afar people, fossils, the excavation process and the controversies around various interpretations of the finds.
Mr. Dole has a BA in Anthropology from Case Western Reserve University and has organized the purchase of all supplies for two archaeology expeditions to the Afar region of Ethiopia