50 years since the discovery of ancient hominin fossil Lucy in Ethiopia, calls grow to decolonize paleoanthropology

It's been 50 years since the American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson discovered the fossil of ancient hominin 'Lucy' in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The find took the story of human evolution back beyond 3 million years for the first time. Yet, despite largely centring on the African continent as the "cradle of mankind", the narrative of hominin fossil discovery is striking for its lack of African scientists.

In this week's episode, Yohannes Haile-Selassie, director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University in the US, explains why the story of ancient human origins is so western-centric, and why he's calling for the decolonisation of paleoanthropology.

This episode was produced by Mend Mariwany with sound design by Michelle Macklem and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode are available. Sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation.

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Further reading:

• ‘Deep inside, something told me I had found the earliest human ancestor; I went numb’ – Yohannes Haile-Selassie on his lifetime quest to discover ancient humanity
• Lucy, discovered 50 years ago in Ethiopia, stood just 3.5 feet tall − but she still towers over our understanding of human origins 
• Meet 3-million-year-old Lucy – she’ll tell you a lot about modern African heritage