For the first time ever, one of the world’s most famous fossils arrived in Europe.

Prague’s National Museum will showcase two of the world’s most famous human ancestor fossils.

Lucy, a 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis skeleton, and Selam, the remains of a child of the same species, arrived in the Czech capital on Friday. The fossils, on loan from the Ethiopian National Museum, will be on display from August 25 for two months.

Lucy, an Australopithecus afarensis, was named after Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles, a song played repeatedly at the archaeologists’ campsite when her remains were discovered in 1974 near the village of Hadar in the Afar Triangle.

Both fossils are regarded as Ethiopia’s most valuable cultural treasures. Their arrival was made possible through an agreement between the Czech and Ethiopian governments, with the Czech state providing guarantees for the loan.

The transport of the fossils was treated with the utmost care. They were flown in aboard Ethiopian Airlines accompanied by Lukeš, Ethiopian Cultural Heritage Authority director Abebawa Ajalu Gella, curators from both countries, and members of the Czech police Rapid Response Unit, which also escorted the fossils to the museum on Wenceslas Square.

Lucy and Selam rarely leave Ethiopia. Lucy was previously exhibited only once outside the country, in the United States between 2007 and 2013.

In a 2016 study, researchers said Lucy had strong upper arms, suggesting she regularly climbed trees and nested in branches at night.

She also had relatively weak legs that were not used for climbing and were inefficient for walking, the study concluded.

An analysis of a fracture on one of Lucy’s bones in the same year suggested that she probably died from a fall from a tall tree.

Selam, discovered in 2000, was presented to the Ethiopian National Museum in 2006 but has never traveled abroad until now.

The fossils will be placed at the entrance of the museum’s “People and Their Ancestors” exhibition. To handle the expected high demand, the museum has introduced timed entry tickets and extended opening hours.

From Tuesday, August 26, the National Museum will open daily from 9:00 to 18:00. Tickets, available via the museum’s website and mobile app, are now on sale.

Would you like us to write about your business? Find out more