Noted: University of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist John Hawks posted an essay about why Kappelman’s analysis is problematic, especially given that he and his colleagues didn’t compare the fractures in her bones to other fossils from the same era. Hawks points out that there is a much simpler explanation for Lucy’s “injuries” than a severely traumatic fall: “becoming a fossil.” The process of fossilization often fragments bones in exactly the way that Lucy’s bones are broken, and animals who were fossilized at the same time as Lucy have similar fractures. So Hawks isn’t discounting the idea that Lucy died of a fall, but he believes that we need more evidence before confirming it.
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