Cassman Cared for Lucy in Ethiopia

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Vicki Cassman traveled to Ethiopia with a team of conservators in January 2007 to prepare Lucy – the fossil remains of Australopithecus afarensi - found in 1974 by Donald Johanson et al. Lucy is the most complete fossilized skeleton ever recovered, and she is estimated to be 3.2 million years old. The team made up of conservators Dr. Nancy Odegaard, Ronald Harvey and Cassman documented and prepared Lucy for her up-coming trip to the United States for an exhibition Lucy’s Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia sponsored by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The exhibit will explore current scientific theories about human evolution and Ethiopian history including the 5th century Kingdom of Axum, the 11th century stone churches of Lalibela and the 17th century castles of Gondar.

In preparation for the work to be done at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, Cassman worked with Anthropology Dept Chair Dr. Karen Rosenberg’s cast of Lucy. Lucy will require great care during transport since she is unique and of great importance in understanding hominid evolution. Also the conservators carried out a condition assessment.

Dr. Cassman has also been a part of the curation team caring for the Kennewick Man remains (9,200 years old) at the Burke Museum, in Seattle Washington. She has worked on this curation team during the legal struggles between the defendants (Federal Government and Native American tribes) and the plaintiffs (eight anthropologists who want to study and prevent repatriation). The judge’s determination in this case has resulted in access to the remains for study. The role of the curation team during studies is to advocate for preservation of the remains.

These experiences have resulted in an edited volume recently published by AltaMira Press 2007.

Human Remains: Guide for Museums and Academic Institutions
Edited by Vicki Cassman, Nancy Odegaard and Joseph Powell