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Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller
Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

New book explores fragments of humanity’s past

Journalist and Minnesota author Kermit Pattison’s new book, “Fossil Men,”
Journalist and Minnesota author Kermit Pattison’s new book, “Fossil Men,” explores the hunt for the oldest human skeleton ever discovered.
Courtesy of HarperCollins

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The search for humanity’s origin is a never-ending journey — and the more we learn, the more we discover what we don’t really know. 

The latest chapter in the saga plays out something like a scientific detective tale in “Fossil Men,” a new book by Minnesota journalist Kermit Pattison. In it, we travel with a group of fossil-hunters to the Afar region of Ethiopia. 

While there, they discover ancient bones that are ultimately dated at 4.4 million years old — 1 million years older than the well-known Lucy. Nicknamed Ardi, the new fossils ignited a firestorm of controversy, competition and jealousy within the paleontology community.

Friday, MPR News host Kerri Miller spoke with Pattison about Ardi, the integral importance of the toe to the evolutionary process and why the hunt for the beginnings of humanity continues.

Guest:

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

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