Kennewick Man Facts That Will Surely Take You Back In Time

On July 28, 1996, human remains of a man from the Ice Age were found on the banks of the Columbia River.

In the summer of 1996, two young college students from Kennewick were wading in the shallows along the Columbia River. This was when they stumbled upon some human skeletal remains, the skull, to be specific.

Bamboozled, these two students called police, who in turn called the Benton County coroner Floyd Johnson. Floyd was also confused and puzzled after looking at this skull. Floyd Johnson contacted James Chatters who was a famous local archaeologist.

James Chatters, along with the Benton County coroner, in the dying light of the evening, returned to the shallows. They eventually pulled a whole skeleton, which Chatters carried back to his lab.

He spread the bones on the table to study them. This is how the Ancient One or Kennewick Man came into the limelight. Let us enter the world of mysteries, claims, and history related to Kennewick Man.

Mysteries Behind Kennewick Man

When two boys found human skeletal remains near a river and those remains were thought to be 9,000 years old, the mystery of these unique historical pieces of evidence was sure to be studied further by scientists and researchers.

Initially, however, scientists were not able to determine whether these remains belonged to the Umatilla tribe (a native North American tribe), who occupied the area the remains were found in, due to lack of technology.

Also, the laws didn't allow them to analyze ancient DNA at that time.

In 2005, Kennewick Man's skeleton was examined again by a team of scientists. Douglas Owsley who was a forensic anthropologist led that team.

Owsley found out that the man's arms were bent.

Based on this fact, he theorized that the reason why the Ancient One's arms were bent was due to powerful muscles that were built up over the period of his lifetime of spearfishing and hunting.

He also found that the bones of the right arm of this Kennewick man were larger than that of his left arm, hence concluding that he was a right-handed man. Other than Owsley, James Chatters and Joseph Powell (from the University of New Mexico) also carried out their independent research on the Kennewick man.

Douglas Owsley led a 10 day examination of the skeleton in 2005, where he found out that the Ancient One or the Kennewick Man had arthritis in both of his knees, his right elbow, and many other vertebrae.

However, it was not critical enough to be crippling.

Owsley also discovered that the Kennewick Man also suffered some trauma in his lifetime, which he found out from the shreds of evidence like a fractured rib which had been healed, a depression fracture that existed on his forehead, a spear jab that healed, and a depression fracture like indentation on the left side of the head.

Owsley also speculated him to be around 38 years old when he died.

After examining the water which was under those bones, scientists discovered and concluded that the Kennewick Man was lying on his back with his arms at his side, and his feet rolled slightly outward. His palms were also facing down. This position could not have been accidental and hence concluded that he was buried deliberately.

Claims Over The Kennewick Man

The book 'Kennewick Man, The Scientific Investigation Of An Ancient American Skeleton' (2014), has all the findings of the Owsley team and was written by Douglas W. Owsley and Richard L. Jantz.

Some archeologists from the Burke Museum, however, voiced their concern and criticism of Owsley's team's findings in 2012. They claimed that no one outside of Owsley's team had the chance to study the Smithsonian's data.

They claimed that as there was no access to this data, no other person could see how Owsley's team reached these conclusions that they published.

Secondly, many people criticized the absence of peer-reviewed articles that were published before Owsley unveiled the bones' secrets. They claimed that Owsley did not follow a standard procedure of academic publishing in the scientific community.

This procedure states that the publisher first has to submit articles to scholarly journals, get them reviewed by experts and then publish them. After publishing, these experts debate the results.

Although Owsley had consulted with many experts, he has not published a scholarly article on the Kennewick Man, till date.

This is also believed by Peter Lape who is the curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum. Apart from being a part of the Burke Museum, Peter Lape is also an associate professor of archaeology at the University of Washington.

The third and most important claim about the Kennewick man is based on his race. Owsley claimed that the Ancient One was a non-Native, a theory that he based on Kennewick Man's skull.

This claim, however, was refuted by David Hurst Thomas, a '19th century skull science paradigm'. Today, skulls are not reliable to find ancestry but the DNA proof is more accurate, and we can rely on that. David Hurst Thomas agrees with the Burke museum archeologists' criticism.

According to NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), if human remnants are found on federal government land and have an affiliation to Native American tribes, the tribe can claim those remnants. This act is called the repatriation act.

It is hence that the Umatilla tribe claimed the remnants, and they wanted to bury the remains properly. However, scientists and researchers contested their claim as they wanted to study more about these remnants.

Tribes like Umatilla, Nez Perce, Yakama, Wanapum Band, and Colville have claimed the remains of the Kennewick Man. They also met at the University of Washington's Burke Museum in Seattle to claim these remnants stored by the US army corps there.

Kennewick Man Vs. Other Fossils

The Kennewick Man's remains are one of the oldest remains ever found in the Americas. These are also the most contested by various tribes like the Umatilla, Nez Perce, Yakama, Wanapum Band, and Colville tribes and different scientists and researchers.

The Kennewick Man's remains are very vital when compared to other fossils as these remains are of almost a full body of a man who lived in the prehistoric era.

This gives scientists and archeologists an opportunity to engage in deep and extensive study of humans from a prehistoric era and understand more about the oldest remains of humans living in ancient times.

Many tribes, even today, believe that the Kennewick Man is their ancestor and are fighting to claim his remains for proper reburial. As biomolecular science is improving day by day, hopefully scientists will be able to find the cause of Kennewick Man's death and much more in the coming future. 

FAQs

Why is the Kennewick Man important?

The discovery of the Kennewick Man is important because it adds a shred of alternative theory evidence to the peopling of North American populations. The discovery suggests that the original settlers of New World were the Jōmon or the people related to them.

What is the Kennewick Man theory?

The Kennewick Man theory is about a middle-aged man's skeletal remains that were found on the Columbia River banks. The theory is that this man was a prehistoric Paleoamerican man, as the carbon dating found out that the remains were around 9,000 years old.

What race does the Kennewick Man belong to?

Kennewick Man, according to various genetic testing results, is the closest to native North Americans. In terms of genetic origin and genetic evidence obtained from his finger bone remnant, the Kennewick Man is Related to Colville tribes of eastern Washington.

How old is the Kennewick Man?

The Kennewick Man's remnants indicate that he was a middle-aged man who died at the age of about 38 years old in the prehistoric era. However, his human remains are around 9,000 years old.

Who was the Kennewick Man?

Kennewick Man was a prehistoric man who was speculated to have origins in North America and was a Paleoamerican man. He is also known as the Ancient One as his ancient DNA evidence places his remnants in the prehistoric age era.

How tall was the Kennewick Man?

Kennewick Man is speculated to have been about 5 ft 7 in (170.2 cm) tall.

What did we learn from the Kennewick Man?

We learnt about the life history and natural history of the living population in the prehistoric era. Kennewick Man's skeletal remains also offer a glimpse into the peopling of the Americas that is speculated to have started around 15,000 years ago. Using his remnants, scientists and historians can also speculate regarding east-Asian populations and populations of European origin.

When was the Kennewick Man discovered?

The Kennewick Man's remains were discovered on July 28, 1996, near the Columbia River.

How did Kennewick man die?

Most of the scientific study undertaken suggests that the Kennewick Man suffered a critical spear wound to his hip, which led to his death.