History

Recent discoveries include the 4.4 million year old ArdipithecusKadaba and Selam, an almost complete skeleton of a three year old female child dating to 3.3 million years ago.  The most famous of the discoveries in the Afar region, of course, is that of Lucy (‘Dinkenesh' – ‘wonderful'), the most complete skeleton of an early hominid yet found and dating back some 3.2 million years. A replica of her skeleton is on display in the National Museum of Ethiopia. Lucy (Australopithecus Afarensis) walked on two legs and stood about 3.5 feet tall. Australopithecus subsequently evolved towards the genus Homo, with the appearance of Homo Habilis (2.4 - 1.8 million years) and Homo Erectus (1.4 – 1 million years), and then Homo Sapiens, probably about 200,000 years ago. There are several notable fossil sites in Ethiopia including the lower Omo Valley and the Awash Valley, both registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the latter including the Hadar area, Aramis and MelkoKunture, the scenes of numerous  paleontological discoveries.