Todd Wood
[Originally published as Venerating Lucy]
On our podcast, Let’s Talk Creation, we were able to share about a recent trip we took to the Czech Republic to see several hominin fossils. In the first episode, where we discuss seeing the Lucy skeleton, my co-host Paul Garner and I have quite a conversation about the “veneration” of these fossils. We draw some direct parallels between the long lines and many foreign visitors coming to this exhibit and medieval people going on religious pilgrimages.
Being in that room with the fossils, where the room was dark and the bones were in coffin-like exhibits, there was definitely a hush over the crowd, almost a reverence. (Then there were the noisy creationists yammering on about anatomical details.) We had an interesting conversation about science vs. religion and how modern museums have become our cathedrals.
In a fun little coincidence, Paige Madison has a piece in Smithsonian magazine on the exhibit, and she confirms that reverential attitude without the overtly religious overtones. She writes,
The hushed gallery felt almost devotional. People looked down at the fragments, up at the reconstructed faces, and down again. Most clasped their hands behind their back as they leaned forward, with adults lingering longer over the bones and children studying the realistic figures.
She doesn’t connect this atmosphere of devotion to medieval pilgrimage, but it’s still a nice complement to our discussion.
If you’ve seen the episode, check out Dr. Madison’s article, and if you haven’t seen our Lucy episode, you should check that out too. I think it’ll be worth your time to reflect on the cultural power of science.
