Colloquium in tribute to Yves Coppens
June 15-16 2023
Organized by the Collège de France and the Fondation Hugot du Collège de France.
With the support of the Musée de l’Homme and the Société des Amis du Musée de l’Homme.
Members of the GDR Rift will be present at this event.
Presentation
The death of Yves Coppens on June 22, 2022 has caused a stir in the paleoanthropology community and far beyond. This extraordinary personality had a profound impact on his discipline, not only through his exceptional scientific contributions, but also through his unrivalled impact on a very broad public. As a tribute to him, the Paleoanthropology Chair at the Collège de France, with the support of several partners, is organizing an exceptional symposium entitled “Les héritiers de Lucy” (“Lucy’s Heirs”). It will be held in the Marguerite de Navarre amphitheatre at the Collège de France on June 15 and 16.
Since the discovery of the famous “Lucy”, discoveries have followed one another on the African continent at an ever-accelerating pace, including the discovery of several previously unknown species of fossil hominins. Methodological innovations have also been numerous, leading to sometimes radical reinterpretations of existing data. Today, these spectacular advances present us with a completely renewed landscape. We have gone from a linear vision of human evolution to a long-unsuspected bushiness and diversity of now-extinct hominin forms.
The “Lucy’s Heirs” symposium will bring together the best international specialists in ancient Hominins. It will provide an opportunity to take stock of the many advances made since Yves Coppens’ first work in Chad and Ethiopia. Several generations of researchers will be able to compare their results and points of view on a crucial period in our evolution, which saw the emergence of the Homo genus and thus bears the seeds of true Man.
