Gudrun Corvinus
Encyclopedia
Gudrun Corvinus was a German
archaeologist of the Nepal Research Centre in Kathmandu.
Her father had a PhD in agriculture
and her mother was a professor of economics
. She completed her studies in geology
, paleontology
and prehistory
at the University of Tübingen.
She was a member of the Afar
expedition in Ethiopia
which discovered the famous skeleton
called "Lucy
". While working in the Namibia
n desert, she discovered animal fossil
s from the Miocene
period. Corvinus moved to Nepal
in 1984 and explored the region, specifically the Dang Deokhuri District
, Dun valley, and Siwalik Hills
.
See also: Institute for Prehistory, Erlangen University; German Research Foundation/German Research Council (DFG); Dr. Ludwig Reisch; German Archaeological Society; University of Pune
; Second World War; Bonn
Friends, colleagues and relatives in Pune as well as Germany and Nepal and other countries, were shocked about this horrific murder. She had just completed her last work about Nepal, and had plans to continue researching with the local Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
archaeologist of the Nepal Research Centre in Kathmandu.
Her father had a PhD in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and her mother was a professor of economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
. She completed her studies in geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
, paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
and prehistory
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
at the University of Tübingen.
She was a member of the Afar
Afar
Afar may refer to:*Afar people, ethnic group principally residing in Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia*Afar Insurgency, alternative name for the Djiboutian Civil War of November 1991-December 1994*Afar Triangle, a geological depression near the Horn of Africa...
expedition in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
which discovered the famous skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
called "Lucy
Lucy (Australopithecus)
Lucy is the common name of AL 288-1, several hundred pieces of bone representing about 40% of the skeleton of an individual Australopithecus afarensis. The specimen was discovered in 1974 at Hadar in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia's Afar Depression. Lucy is estimated to have lived 3.2 million years...
". While working in the Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
n desert, she discovered animal fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s from the Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
period. Corvinus moved to Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
in 1984 and explored the region, specifically the Dang Deokhuri District
Dang Deokhuri District
Dang-Deukhuri, District is an Inner Terai district some 280 km west of Kathmandu in Rapti Zone of Nepal's Mid-Western Region. Dang-Deukhuri covers an area of 2,955 km² with population of 462,380...
, Dun valley, and Siwalik Hills
Siwalik Hills
The Sivalik hills is a mountain range of the outer Himalayas also known as Manak Parbat in ancient times. Shivalik literally means 'tresses of Shiva’. This range is about long enclosing an area that starts almost from the Indus and ends close to the Brahmaputra, with a gap of about between the...
.
See also: Institute for Prehistory, Erlangen University; German Research Foundation/German Research Council (DFG); Dr. Ludwig Reisch; German Archaeological Society; University of Pune
University of Pune
The University of Pune , is a university located in northwestern Pune, India. It was founded in 1949. Spread over a campus, the university is home to 46 academic departments...
; Second World War; Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
Death
Returning from Nepal to settle down in Pune, India, where she had many old friends and owned estate, in January 2006 Dr Corvinus was found stabbed and beheaded in her apartment.Friends, colleagues and relatives in Pune as well as Germany and Nepal and other countries, were shocked about this horrific murder. She had just completed her last work about Nepal, and had plans to continue researching with the local Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune.
Books
- 1981: A Survey of the Pravara River System in Western Maharashtra, India.
- (Volume 1: The Stratigraphy and Geomorphology of the Pravara River System.)
- By Gudrun Corvinus, Tübingen (Verlag Archaeologica Venatoria) -- ISBN 3-921618-13-4
- 1983: A Survey of the Pravara River System in Western Maharashtra, India.
- (Volume 2: The Excavations of the Acheulian Site of Chirki-on-Pravara, India.)
- By Gudrun Corvinus, Tübingen (Verlag Archaeologica Venatoria) -- ISBN 3-921618-14-2
- 2005: Prehistoric Cultures in Nepal from the Early Palaeolithic to the Neolithic and the Quaternary Geology of the Dang-Deokhuri Dun Valleys