Kennewick Man Ruling - Politics Or Science

New Scientist ^ | Jeff Hecht

[blam]

Kennewick man ruling - politics or science?

10:30 14 February 04

Native Americans called him "The Ancient One", while anthropologists speculated he could reveal who first settled the Americas.

Then, for over seven years, the skeleton of Kennewick Man became the subject of a court battle between the two parties, crystallising the debate over who should lay claim to ancient human remains and artefacts.

Last week, a federal appeals court finally granted scientists the right to study the 9200-year-old bones, against the wishes of a group of native American tribes, including the Nez Perce tribe of Idaho and those of the Yakama Indian Nation, who wished to rebury them.

But the ruling may actually be a triumph of politics over science, since Kennewick Man could be of limited value to anthropologists. The archaeological site where it was found has been destroyed, taking with it vital contextual information. And, while the skeleton has gathered dust, other potentially more important skeletons have been unearthed.

But the researchers say it is the principle of access to such remains that counts. "If we'd caved in on this one, it would have closed the door to research on other early skeletons," says anthropologist Rob Bonnichsen of Texas A&M University at College Station, a plaintiff in the case.

Unusual features

The skeleton hit the headlines in 1996 when it was discovered along the north bank of the Columbia river in Kennewick, Washington. Carbon dating revealed the remains were between 8340 and 9200 years old, the oldest found in the Pacific north-west - then thought to be the first part of the Americas to be colonised.

Anthropologists were also excited because the skeleton was 90 per cent complete and had unusual features differing from those of Europeans or modern native Americans.

However, tribal officials demanded that the bones be reburied, claiming they had a right to inter their alleged forebear under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. At the time, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), who managed the federal land where the bones were found, decided in their favour.

Eight scientists, including Bonnichsen, sued the federal government in October 1996 to block the reburial, and the case has been in the courts ever since.

Shortly after the discovery, a select group of government scientists were allowed to study the remains. They concluded that Kennewick Man's ancestors came from Japan, Polynesia or south-east Asia. Co-plaintiff Loring Brace of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, says, "I'd like to get my calipers on it," as he, like many others, is eager to compare it with other skeletons from the same period.

Concrete blocks

In the years since Kennewick Man came to light, however, several additional skeletons more than 8000 years old have been found, which also seem distinct from later populations. Most believe they came to the Americas from south-east, and then north-east, Asia at the end of the ice age, between 11,000 and 14,000 years ago.

It is not clear what Kennewick Man will add to this picture. "Until the research is done, you don't know," says Bonnichsen.

Although the skeleton remains intact, the site where it was found did not. In April 1998 the USACE dumped concrete blocks onto the site, supposedly to protect it from erosion, then planted trees. That is likely to have obliterated any archaeological evidence as well as any organic material that could be carbon dated to confirm Kennewick Man's age.

The bones were found after erosion washed away the river bank, so it is unclear whether they had been buried. A brief examination of the bank showed no evidence of any graves or artefacts, says geoarchaeologist Gary Huckleberry of Washington State University in Pullman. "The only material we found was historic trash."

But tribal opposition blocked him from digging to discover and analyse the stratigraphy the order and position of the layers of remains which is a vital element in understanding the skeleton itself.

Last week's decision upheld the ruling by the Ninth Circuit court in Oregon that the tribes had not clearly shown they are related to Kennewick Man, as required by the repatriation law. Either the federal government or the tribes could still appeal, but it is subject to approval by the Supreme Court which is far from guaranteed. No such appeal had been filed as New Scientist went to press.

Jeff Hecht

[blam]

This is a big win for science.

[blam]

Kennewick Man Speaks

[blam]

THE SAMURAI AND THE AINU

Findings by American anthropologist C. Loring Brace, University of Michigan, will surely be controversial in race conscious Japan. The eye of the predicted storm will be the Ainu, a "racially different" group of some 18,000 people now living on the northern island of Hokkaido. Pure-blooded Ainu are easy to spot: they have lighter skin, more body hair, and higher-bridged noses than most Japanese. Most Japanese tend to look down on the Ainu.

Brace has studied the skeletons of about 1,100 Japanese, Ainu, and other Asian ethnic groups and has concluded that the revered samurai of Japan are actually descendants of the Ainu, not of the Yayoi from whom most modern Japanese are descended. In fact, Brace threw more fuel on the fire with:

"Dr. Brace said this interpretation also explains why the facial features of the Japanese ruling class are so often unlike those of typical modern Japanese. The Ainu-related samurai achieved such power and prestige in medieval Japan that they intermarried with royality and nobility, passing on Jomon-Ainu blood in the upper classes, while other Japanese were primarily descended from the Yoyoi." The reactions of Japanese scientists have been muted so. One Japanese anthropologist did say to Brace," I hope you are wrong."

The Ainu and their origin have always been rather mysterious, with some people claiming that the Ainu are really Caucasian or proto-Caucasian - in other words, "white." At present, Brace's study denies this interpretation.

(I believe Kennewick Man is related to these folks

[prion]

In April 1998 the USACE dumped concrete blocks onto the site, supposedly to protect it from erosion, then planted trees.

The most puzzling aspect of this whole episode is the behavior of the Corps of Engineers. How does obliterating the site serve anybody's interest?

[BenLurkin]

"The only material we found was historic trash."

Trash can tell a lot.

[blam]

"The most puzzling aspect of this whole episode is the behavior of the Corps of Engineers. How does obliterating the site serve anybody's interest?"

It doesn't but, it does cater to the Indians. This 'cover-up' was ordered by a 'high official' in the Clinton White House.

The American Indian/Native American skeletons only started showing up in the skeletal record about 6,000 years ago. Prior to about 6,000 years ago, the skeletons appear to be more closely related to the Kennewick Man type.

[Jeff Chandler]

How does obliterating the site serve anybody's interest?

That's the real political aspect of this, in spite of the article's inference of the opposite. It would be un-PC if non-"Indian" people predated the "Indians", therefore the Corp of Engineers under the Clintons had to destroy the evidence.

If the evidence had pointed to the PC view, the site would have been protected.

[farmfriend]

Gods, Graves, Glyphs
List for articles regarding early civilizations , life of all forms, - dinosaurs - etc.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this ping list.

[muawiyah]

I happen to know a Japanese family of primarily Samurai and Royal Family ancestry. Once while they were traveling through some Southwestern Indian reservations (near the Hopi and Zuni), a local made a rather heafty offer to "purchase" the lady of the family for his wife.

More recently the Zuni have been found to probably be descendants of Zen priests who fled to America in the 1300s.

It's this "family" and "tribal" resemblance that clearly demonstrates that the Jomon really haven't disappeard and continue to live in both of their most ancient homes, one in America and the other in Japan.

[farmfriend]

How does obliterating the site serve anybody's interest?

Well, if you are Clinton, you must do these things to show support for you special interest groups.

[blam]

"More recently the Zuni have been found to probably be descendants of Zen priests who fled to America in the 1300s."

Dr Nancy Yaw Davis makes a compelling argument that the Zuni's are Japanese. Her book is worth Reading

THE ZUNI ENIGMA

The Zuni sacred rosette (top) closely resembles Japan's national symbol, a stylized chrysanthemum (bottom) The Zunis of New Mexico are different from other Native Americans in many ways. In an impressive, very detailed paper in the NEARA Journal, N.Y. Davis summarizes her investigation of these anomalies as follows:

"...evidence suggesting Asian admixture is found in Zuni biology, lexicon, religion, social organization, and oral traditions of migration. Possible cultural and language links of Zuni to California, the social disruption at the end of the Heian period of the 12th century in Japan, the size of Japanese ships at the time of proposed migration, the cluster of significant changes in the late 13th century in Zuni, all lend further credibility to a relatively late prehistoric contact."

We cannot delve into all classes of evidence adduced by Davis. Let us focus on the Zuni biological anomalies:

Skeletal remains. These show a significant change in Zuni physical characteristics from 1250-1400 AD, suggesting the arrival of a new element in the Zuni population.

Dentition. Three tooth features of the Zunis lie midway between those of Asians and other Native Americans; namely, shoveling, Carabelli's cusp, and 5-cusp pattern on the lower second molar.

Blood-group characteristics. Blood Type B is frequent in East Asian populations but nearly absent in most Native Americans. Zuni, on the other hand, have a high incidence of Type-B blood.

The "Zuni disease". The kidney disease mesangiopathic glomerulonephritis is much more common among the Zuni than other Americans, and it is also very common in the Orient.

[muawiyah]

What so many call a "sacred rosette" is actually a double butterfly, or cho-cho. The Cherokee Indians also call the same device when used in formal dance a "butterfly". Since not everybody is or can be an artist, the "rosette" form is frequently used in place of the more accurate butterfly drawing.

The "butterfly" has to do with the silk worm business. The old nobles among the Yayoi and the pre-Samurai Ainu used this symbol. More recently several branches of the Royal Family have used one butterfly, or two butterflies (head to head). I have seen three butterflies, which are similar to the Mon that would use three balls of silk thread.

The silk worm business, interestingly enough, was once tied in directly with traders who worked a route that ended in Japan and stretched all the way to Rome (which is why it was called the "Silk Road").

There is some evidence that European-like people actually operated silk thread collection posts in Japan itself. This is inconclusive because I don't think they've found any Caucasion skeletons in Japan from that period.

[blam]

"The silk worm business, interestingly enough, was once tied in directly with traders who worked a route that ended in Japan and stretched all the way to Rome (which is why it was called the "Silk Road")."

Yup. There even was a pre-'Silk Road' road through the whole region. Just this morning, Western Han graves have been discovered near the Three-Gorges-Dam area. It wouldn't suprise me if some Caucasian skeletons were found in this grave yard.

"I don't think they've found any Caucasion skeletons in Japan from that period."

The oldest Jomon skeleton ever found in Japan is 13k years old. Then there are the Hakka...

[Chris Talk]

By our usual definition, appearance, a pure Ainu is white. A Caucasian.

Furthermore, the population in Japan generally is not in effect "pure Mongoloid" by race as Koreans or Chinese might be, but represents about on the average a 50/50 cross with some Caucasian people, whether the Ainu narrowly defined, or some other similar and related Caucasoid people that was on the islands before the Korean related people arrived. Call them Ainu or Jomon.

I think what cannot be said out loud in Japan is, that while the Ainu and other minorities have been very ill-treated traditonally by the Japanese, at the same time their own Emperor and Elite are the ones who are the most Ainu/Jomon looking of all..."Sons of Heaven" with the whitest skins, and the least Mongoloid in appearance, of any Japanese at all!

[blam]

"..."Sons of Heaven" with the whitest skins, and the least Mongoloid in appearance, of any Japanese at all!"

Yup, I've read one anthropologist speculate that the Geshui(sp) Girl tradition of 'white-face' was and imitation of the 'royals'.

[drhogan]

i think this is great--the japanese discovered america before columbus, the vikings, or the indians.
will the real "native americans" please stand up.

[blam]

"i think this is great--the japanese discovered america before columbus, the vikings, or the indians. will the real "native americans" please stand up."

Nor so fast.....

Skulls Found In Mexico Suggest Early Americans Would Have Said 'G'Day Mate'

'First Americans Were Australian'

[Chris Talk]

The first Americans were white, the Red Men came in much later and exterminated them.

It is rumored that when Cortez landed, his first words were, Payback is gonna be one bitch, if I have anything to do with it.

[Publius6961]

But the ruling may actually be a triumph of politics over science, since Kennewick Man could be of limited value to anthropologists. The archaeological site where it was found has been destroyed, taking with it vital contextual information. And, while the skeleton has gathered dust, other potentially more important skeletons have been unearthed.

Nice try, but the opposite is true in my view.
It was ignoramuses who had the site destroyed precisely to use this identical argument eventually.

It is intellectually hilarious to use the "I am an orphan argument after I killed my parents". But that won't prevent the PC crowd and the controlling indian twits from attempting to use it.

[Chris Talk]

A Skeleton was unearthed in Kerry's closet IIRC. We will call it Kerrywick Woman.