Celebrate 50 years of Lucy

“Lucy” is the fossil skeleton that forever changed our understanding of where we came from. Fifty years after her discovery in Africa, scientists are still unraveling how Lucy and her species fit into the bigger picture of human evolution.

Using the bones discovered by Dr. Donald Johanson, scientists have been able to trace human evolution back further than ever before. Explore the fascinating history behind the revolutionary discovery and it’s direct connection to Arizona.

Celebrate 50 years of learning from Lucy in this new special from Arizona PBS, and explore exciting extra content below.

A recreation of what Lucy, the first human fossil, may have looked like

Four archaeologists out in the field, wearing backpacks and holding pickaxes

John Gurche, a paleo artist, creating the Lucy model

Archaeologists digging in the Afar Desert

Scientists pointing at a drawing of Lucy, the first human fossil

discovery

Finding a complete skull

Dr. Donald Johanson, founding director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, talks about the discovery of Lucy’s complete skull, and what it tells us about the species.

Males, females and babies

Dr. Johanson explains the differences between the sexes in Lucy’s species, and how the bones indicated this to scientists.

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Lucy’s face: Art meets science

There are not many areas of the face where things are identical in humans and great apes, but there are relationships among them. John Gurche, a paleo artist, explains his process for reconstructing Lucy’s facial features.

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the field

Ethiopia’s Afar people

Learn more about the Afar People, the people native to the region where Lucy the fossil was originally found in the Afar Desert in Ethiopia, a harsh and challenging place to live.

the future

Walking with Lucy

It’s taken decades of work to unlock the secrets of the Lucy skeleton. With help from the California Academy of Sciences, Arizona PBS host Catherine Anaya leads us on a discovery of the significance of how Lucy would have walked in contrast to the chimpanzee. These insights will inform how future fossil skeletons may be studied and reconstructed.

Pompeii: The New Dig

This new landmark three-part series follows the most extensive archaeological excavation in Pompeii for a generation. Nearly two years in the making, with exclusive access to the dig and the all-Italian team of archaeologists, the series follows the excavation of an entire city block, Insula 10, in the north of the city.

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Explore the past with ‘Secrets of the Dead’ More episodes

Rediscovering Assyrian Artifacts in War-Torn Iraq

Archaeology at Althorp

Returning to Babylon

Jurassic Fortunes

Nero’s Sunken City

The Sunken Basilica

Hidden in the Amazon

Lady Sapiens

Graveyard of the Giant Beasts

Shadows of the Ancients

Archaeological evidence suggests that the ancestral Pueblo Indians (Anasazi) marked astronomical events, perhaps as guides or records. Rock art and architecture throughout the Four Corners area were carefully placed so that beams of sunlight would interact with rock images on important seasonal days such as equinoxes and solstices, marking the days with remarkably high precision.

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Specials from ‘NOVA’

Ice Age Footprints

Artificial Intelligence Reveals Ancient Desert Drawings

Great Mammoth Mystery

Mysterious Bones Found in 500-Year-Old Shipwreck

Decoding Neanderthals

Could Jurassic Park Actually Happen?

Hunt for the Oldest DNA

Alaskan Dinosaurs

Iceman Reborn

Coronado: The New Evidence

“Coronado: The New Evidence” explores one of the longest-standing archaeological mysteries in the United States: the land route taken by famed explorer Spanish Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, who from 1540-1542 was attempting to find vast wealth and fame while traveling north from Mexico.

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Celebrate 50 years of Lucy

The Discovery

Finding a complete skull

The Field

Ethiopia’s Afar people

The Future

Walking with Lucy

Explore more history with these specials

Kids programming