Lucy and Selam together for the first time
For the first time ever in Europe, the original fossils of human ancestors Lucy & Selam are available for public viewing. On loan from the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, this extraordinary exhibit will be open until October 23, 2025, allowing visitors an unprecedented look at a true landmark in human evolution.
What to know:
Lucy belongs to an extinct species of hominins within the family Hominidae.
Lucy was small: 106 cm tall and weighed around 28 kg.
She was a young female, aged 12–16.
What did Lucy eat? Mainly vegetative elements as leaves, berries, seed, roots, bark, grasses, sedges, fruits, and palm fruits. Occaisionally she also hunted insects and probably lizards.
Her exact cause of death remains uncertain.
Selam died at the age of about 2,5 years old.
Selam, a fossil of a young child from the same species (Australopithecus afarensis), is also on display. Approximately 100,000 years older than Lucy, Selam was found in the same region of Ethiopia's Afar Triangle. Both fossils, representing Ethiopia’s national cultural heritage, are being exhibited in Prague thanks to an agreement between Ethiopia and Czechia, with support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of Tourism of Ethiopia.
The discovery of Lucy in 1974 by paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson and his student Tom Gray near the village of Hadar in the Afar Triangle caused a global sensation. Even today, Lucy remains one of the oldest known hominin fossils, with significant implications for understanding the origins of the human species.
The world of prehistoric hunters
The National Museum in Prague is opening a new exhibition titled People and Their Ancestors, taking you on a journey through millions of years of human history. This exhibition is not just about fossils. It tells the fascinating story of the entire human lineage, from the first hominins who descended from the trees to modern humans, whose way of life, diet, and social structures gradually evolved.
This part of the exhibition invites visitors into the world of prehistoric hunters and gatherers. On display is a world-renowned artifact from the National Museum’s collection – a cast of a Neanderthal skull from Gánovce, dating back approximately 105,000 years – as well as remains of the oldest modern humans in Europe found in the Koněprusy Cave, whose faces are brought to life by hyperrealistic models.
The exhibition presents the most comprehensive overview of Paleolithic finds from Czech territory: from the oldest artifacts from Přezletice, dated between 600,000 and 400,000 BCE, through the famous mammoth bone deposit at Dolní Věstonice (where the remarkable Venus of Vestonice - a prehistoric ceramic figurin was found), to the artistic creations of hunters from the late Early Stone Age.
