Who do those casinos really belong to? Part IIa

I'm not really into politics and current events today so here is some more anthropology. This time it's closer to home, the Kennewick man. The Kennewick Man is a nearly complete skeleton found on the shores of the Columbia River in 1996 and thought to be 9000 years old. Before these important remains could be studied local Native Americans tried to take possession of the remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), in spite of the fact intial observations indicated he was not related to the Native Americans currently in the region.

"The man lacks definitive characteristics of the classic mongoloid stock to which modern Native Americans belong. The skull is dolichocranic (cranial index 73.8) rather than brachycranic, the face narrow and prognathous rather than broad and flat. Cheek bones recede slightly and lack an inferior zygomatic projection; the lower rim of the orbit is even with the upper. Other features are a long, broad nose that projects markedly from the face and high, round orbits. The mandible is v-shaped,with a pronounced, deep chin. Many of these characteristics are definitive of modern-day caucasoid peoples, while others, such as the orbits are typical of neither race. Dental characteristics fit Turner's (1983) Sundadont pattern, indicating possible relationship to south Asian peoples."

(I put this claim in the same category as the Evangelical Christians attempts to replace evolution with creationism in the schools.) After years of court battles scientists will now be able to study the remains.

After 9,300 years, Kennewick Man's exam begins

The old guy with a spear point in his hip is still capable of causing a fuss.

Nine years after the 9,300-year-old skeletal remains known as Kennewick Man tumbled out of the banks of the Columbia River, scientists who successfully sued for the right to study the bones will begin their analyses today at the University of Washington's Burke Museum.

[....]

In any case, at the Burke Museum today, some of the world's leading experts in paleoanthropology will finally get their first look at the fractured skeleton of a muscular, middle-aged man who once roamed the Columbia Basin when it was wetter, cooler and plentiful with bison, elk and deer.

Previous limited studies of the bones, ordered by the court to resolve various technical disputes, revealed the ancient one has a stone spear point embedded in his hip..

A facial reconstruction based on the skull, which some experts say appears distinctively different from the typical skull shape of modern Native Americans, ended up resembling actor Patrick Stewart, from the television show "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

But many of the bone fragments remain unidentified. The study that runs through July 15 will be led by the Smithsonian Institution's renowned paleoanthropologist Douglas Owsley and begin by arranging the fragments in anatomical order.

Hugh Berryman, a forensic scientist from Tennessee, will look at the many fractures to find out how and when each piece of bone was broken as part of the broader goal of determining how Kennewick Man came to his final resting place: Did he fall and die there? Was he buried? What do his injuries tell us about life here 9,000 years ago?

"That's our primary focus at this point," said Chatters.

"We want to get a deeper sense of who he was, what he ate and how he lived. ... We have very few individuals from this time."

I look forward to the scientist's findings and what they will tell us about the history of humanity in America.