In the Ethiopian language, she is called Dinknesh — a name that means the wonderful, the fabulous, the precious. But to most of the world, she is known as Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old fossil whose discovery 33 years ago yielded then-unparalleled insights to the origins of humankind.This week, the iconic set of bones will be the star of a much-hyped exhibit that is pitting the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Ethiopian Government against the world’s scientific community.Houston museum officials say Lucy must be displayed to offer a glimpse into the history of mankind and a much-needed spotlight on Ethiopia as the cradle of humanity.But a host of critics, including the world’s most influential paleoanthropologists, say it is irresponsible to exhibit a specimen so fragile and valuable. They fear the fossil will be damaged during the exhibit and a projected six-year tour.For the past 27 years, Lucy has been carefully cached in a climate-controlled safe at the National Museum of Ethiopia, taken out only for scientific research or for public exhibit on two rare occasions.The Houston exhibit will be the first public viewing outside her homeland. The exhibit, which is being heavily advertised on television and billboards, had already sold 2,150 advance tickets by Thursday.“The concern that people express about safeguarding Lucy is one we share. We are on the same page,” said Dirk Van Tuerenhout, curator of anthropology at the Houston museum. “We will make sure she is kept safe, the same way we have kept safe other artifacts that have come here.”Famed fossil hunter Richard Leakey reproached the Houston museum for using Lucy as a “prostitute” to spur ticket sales, extraordinarily high at $20 (euro15). Noted museums such as The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the American Museum of Natural History in New York refused offers to exhibit Lucy. Ethiopian immigrants in Houston are urging a boycott of the exhibit, which will run from August 31 to April 20, 2008.“There is a lot of damage you can’t see with the naked eyes, caused just by touching her and handling her,” said Yohannes Haile-Selassie, anthropology curator at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.Bringing Lucy to the United States for a museum exhibit also disregards a 1998 UNESCO resolution, signed by scientists from 20 countries, that says such fossils should not be moved outside of the country of origin except for compelling scientific reasons.Lucy, a hominid fossil named after the Beatles’ song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, was discovered in the remote Afar province in northeastern Ethiopia. Although not the oldest human ancestor ever found, her skeleton is among the most complete, with about 40 per cent of her bones intact.
