Lucy (fossil)

Hello. I want to tell you a secret. For a very, very, very long time, I was sleeping. I wasn't in a bed. I was tucked deep inside the earth, quiet and still. The sun warmed the ground above me, and the rain pattered down, tap, tap, tap. I waited for millions of years, which is longer than you can even imagine. Can you guess what I am? I'm not a rock or a sleepy seed. I'm a collection of very old bones waiting to tell a story.

One sunny day, on November 24th, 1974, some friendly scientists found me in a place called Ethiopia. They were so excited. They used soft brushes to gently sweep the dirt off my bones. Tickle, tickle. That night, they had a big party to celebrate. They played a happy song called 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds' over and over again. And that’s how I got my name. Hello, I’m Lucy. I’m not a person like you, but I’m one of your oldest, oldest relatives from a family called Australopithecus afarensis. I lived about 3.2 million years ago. My bones showed the scientists that I walked on two feet, just like you do when you run and play.

Today, I help everyone understand the amazing story of where people come from. I'm like the first chapter in a very long book all about your family. You can see a copy of me in a special museum, where I remind people how long humans have been walking on our amazing Earth. Learning about me helps you learn about you. And that big, wonderful story is still going on, with every single step you take.