September 19, 2007
Australopithecus, go home!
New York may love Lucy, but don't expect a visit anytime soon.Kudos to all the museums who have not caved into sacrificing responsible science for the quick buck. I wish art museums showed the same level of responsibility.The 3.2 million-year-old skeleton had never been seen outside Ethiopia until last month in a Houston Museum of Natural Science exhibit, and the museum had hoped to take her on a national tour.
But museums nationwide have turned a paleontological cold shoulder. "We simply . . . would not . . . become involved," said Randall Kremer, a spokesman for the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian in Washington.
Houston museum officials have vowed to take every precaution against damage and theft, but other experts say sending Lucy's loose bones halfway around the world was reckless to begin with.And what's the point of this sideshow, anyway? It all strikes me as a secular equivalent to viewing holy relics -- though the Church doesn't do much sending around of saints' bones any more, and with especially fragile relics, they are often publicly exhibited only at extremely long intervals."[She's] too fragile to travel," Kremer said.
Posted by David on September 19, 2007 9:19 AM
What't the point? Uh, maybe because people like to look at old stuff in buildings called museums?
Posted by: Lee Murrah on September 19, 2007 8:37 PM
The popularity of fossils from the wonders of the Burgess Shale, 530 million years old, to dinosaurs 70 millions years old or more to the fossil remains of our relatives such as the various australopithecines cannot be doubted. However, despite the popular notion that fossils are "pertified" (turned to stone) and seemingly as tough as rocks, is simply incorrect. In point of fact, the preservation of the remains of ancient organisms is extremely variable and the best method to insure the survival of these important materials is to move them about as little as possible and as carefully as possible. It is almost unreal to me (and I have had some experience with fossil exhibits) that the Houston Museum folks would even propose a tour for such fragile materials as "Lucy" in the first place.
In actuality, the remains of Lucy or most any other fossil can be seen or toured but in the form of absolutely accurate casts of the originals. Far better to be cautious than sorry in this and most other instances. Priceless and unique materials, so important to the understanding of our evolution, require the most extreme protective measures.
Posted by: Donald Wolberg on September 19, 2007 9:30 PM
I'm sure they're not going to just bubble wrap the bones and slap them in a cardboard box. There are ways to move things without damaging them, and it's been done for gernerations. I don't see the big deal. In fact, I'm looking forward to the 2 hour trek to Houston to see these bones.
Posted by: Mike Rentner on September 20, 2007 7:55 AM
Unfortunately, dealing with fossil materials, and here I mean the actual fossils, not just replicas, is a far more difficult and involved issue. It is far more rar to transport actual fossils for exhibit purposes, and "Lucy" is not just any fossil. Preservation is the key and most of the "real" parts you may see on exhibit are either nicely permineralize (actual bone and minerals) or preserved within a martix. Most of these do not travel, but are shown in the museum of ownership. Permineralized bone is much heavier than just bone, but can also be rather brittle. Frankly, I am rather astonished that the authorities allowed the Lucy remains to travel at all. And in point of fact, well made resin casts are just as useful for public exhibits and are almost indistiguisable if accirately colored.
Posted by: Donald Wolberg on September 20, 2007 8:14 PM
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