Australopithecus afarensis: Hominin #3 - 1/88 Limited Edition

Format: 2160 x 2160 px - MP4 Looping video - 150 dpi

This Hominin bust by the Smithsonian paleoartist John Gurche is built with clay over a cast or 3D print of an ancient skull, from which a silicone mold is taken and the face painted into the mold. Acrylic eyes, and bear or human hair implanted manually and individually.

Materials: clay, casting, 3D printing, silicone, acrylic, paint, bear hair, human hair.

Medium: digital photography, post-production coloring, animation.

In the world of paleoanthropology, this find was an exciting event. Until its discovery the earliest hominins had been known mostly from isolated bones and teeth. Here a collection of associated bones from a single individual showed for the first time a glimpse of the outline of an australopith’s form, if the dots could be properly connected. Never before could scientists accurately calculate the proportions and size of the body for an Australopithecus.

Its arm to leg proportions are intermediate between ape and human. Analyzed properly, this skeleton can serve as a kind of Rosetta for the interpretation of more fragmentary remains. One thing was immediately clear: this was a species that walked on two feet. It was one of us—a hominin. When the partial skeleton of this small female was unearthed in 1974, the discovery team celebrated that night, blaring music from the camp’s speakers. One song was the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky of Diamonds.” Now she had a name—“Lucy.”

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