Posted on 02/24/2006 5:51:38 AM PST by Spunky
SEATTLE -- Kennewick Man was buried by other humans.
That finding, which scientists have pondered for nearly 10 years, was finally confirmed Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists here.
The scientists also have concluded the ancient skull appears different than those of Indian tribes who lived in the area.
Scientists long had wondered whether Kennewick Man, whose 9,000-year-old skeleton was found 10 years ago in Columbia Park alongside the Columbia River, was naturally covered with silt or if others had laid him to rest.
The answer is he was laid out on his back, arms at his sides and palms down, said Doug Owsley, a forensic scientist for the Smithsonian and lead scientist on the Kennewick Man study.
The river was to his left and his feet downstream. His head was raised about 5 degrees so he was looking east toward his feet and the rising sun. His legs were straight and his feet slightly tipped outward, Owsley said.
He used an industrial CT scanner to study the skeleton in minute sections, and to examine a spear or dart point with a pointed end and stem that was imbedded in Kennewick Man's hip.
The point entered Kennewick man from the front, angled downward at 77 degrees, Owsley said. Earlier analysis had suggested it might have struck him from the back.
The point in Kennewick Man is "not a classic Cascade point," Owsley said. Cascade points tend to have two pointed ends and sometimes are serrated. He said scientists are continuing to study the point.
And Owsley said the spear point did not cause Kennewick Man's death. "It was a well-healed fracture," he said.
Earlier Thursday, Owsley told the Associated Press that there was "no clear indication in the skeleton of cause of death." Kennewick Man had undergone "a lot of injuries, this guy was tough as nails," he said.
In a private interview with the Herald before his speech, Owsley described how he and a team of experts came to their conclusions after hundreds of hours of studying the bones. They detailed the colors, fractures, sediment and mineral deposits of each bone fragment -- a complex 350-piece jigsaw puzzle.
"This requires more expertise than one person could muster," Owsley said. "We are doing a level of analysis that most people would not think possible, but it's because of this interdisciplinary team."
Many of Kennewick Man's bones eventually were broken by the weight of the earth above him, Owsley said, and other bones broke apart when the riverbank washed out. And some fractures occurred during his lifetime and had healed.
Kennewick Man is particularly significant because it is one of the most complete ancient skeletons ever found. And its skull appears to be unlike those of Indian tribes living in the area, Owsley said.
"We know very little about this time period. Who the people were that were the earliest people that came to America," Owsley told the AP.
But questions remain about where Kennewick Man may have come from, where the stone point in his hip originated, what he might have eaten and what his daily life was like.
About 20 scientists from around the country are in Seattle this week studying the bones to find answers to those questions. Algae specialists, bone fracture specialists and skull experts will continue to work to decipher the skeleton's riddles.
Owsley said they were able to determine many details about the burial from the scientists' first study last July.
The studies have been conducted in Seattle because Kennewick Man's remains are housed at the University of Washington's Burke Museum.
The bones surfaced during flooding in 1996. Most of them were uncovered during a two-week span in June when waves undercut the riverbank and the grave.
Two teenagers found the skull of Kennewick Man just a month later as they were sneaking into Columbia Park for Water Follies, the annual hydroplane races.
The rapid uncovering and discovery of the bones is why the remains are in such good condition, Owsley said.
"We should thank him for the opportunity to tell his story," Owsley said. "He's been very kind to us in terms of having observations that we can absolutely interpret."
The bones' discovery triggered a nine-year legal clash between scientists, the federal government and Native American tribes, who have claimed Kennewick Man as their ancestor.
A half-dozen representatives of the Yakama Nation came to watch the presentation. They were dismayed by what they said was the disrespectful way the bones were handled.
"Scientists have no respect for anything. I had to shut my eyes. It is not a comfortable feeling," said Larena Sohappy, culture committee chairwoman for the Yakama Nation.
Yes!
And about the dams and Salmon. Yes we keep hearing talk that they want to tear down the dams so it will go back to the so called (natural state) it was in before the dams. Some jerk Congressman, from Seattle area keeps pushing this one. I think his name is McDermitt.
Also did you read/hear where the Indians had enough pull to shut down the farmers irrigation water from Klamath Lake TO SAVE THE SUCKER FISH. That was a couple of years ago. There were lots of farmers who lost their farms because of this. Bush's administration finally stepped in (after it was almost to late) and let the water flow again.
Sometime if you have time put in Keyword (Klamath) and read the articles. Those farmers and some of our Freepers staged a rebellion.
Too much sun...
Also did you read/hear where the Indians had enough pull to shut down the farmers irrigation water from Klamath Lake TO SAVE THE SUCKER FISH. That was a couple of years ago. There were lots of farmers who lost their farms because of this. Bush's administration finally stepped in (after it was almost to late) and let the water flow again.
Sometime if you have time put in Keyword (Klamath) and read the articles. Those farmers and some of our Freepers staged a rebellion
You have got to be kidding--a sucker fish!!!! Heck, they're not endangered. There's one born every minute. What a carp-out!!!
How did the farmers convince them to change their minds?
sand, wind and tumble weeds. It has changed though due to all of the irrigation and farming we have here now.
It seems like it's the nevergreen area of the evergreen state there:) (unless it's the farm areas).
I've always found that English pronunciation of Spanish spellings of Indian names to be amusing. (Or Frence: Canyon de Chelly.)
East of the Cascade Mountains is desert untill you get to Spokane and the Idaho border. It has changed from all sand and tumble weeds when I was a kid though, due to all the irrigation they have beautiful farm land. Lots of Fruit Trees, wine grapes etc. Although when we get a strong wind we still get tumbleweeds, tumbling, tumbling along. Funny to see how many get in the Columbia River.
This sounds like a pc press release. Someone will probably write a 'paper' with all the other details and theories, etc. (at least I hope)
In the case of the young Snake Indian girl I believe the spelling is mainly phonetic and isn't from the Spanish. L & C render it half a dozen different ways in their journals. It's also fun to observe all their various spellings of 'mocassins.' "Mockersons" was a favorite but it seemed to vary from day to day. They also made mincemeat of Sacagawea's husband's French name, Charbonneau.
To me one of the most interesting and capable guys on the expedition was called "Drewyer" in the journals. An editor's note points out his actual name was probably "Drouillard." Language metamorphoses daily.
New Mexico has it's share though. Pojoaque is one.
Yeah, I went to college in Albuquerque and remember lots of interesting N.M. place-names. The entire West has names that are unrecognizably corrupted from the originals, no matter what language they started with! I always think of Owyhee County in my native Idaho. Apparently some Hawaiians had been conscripted as trappers years ago and they disappeared in that remote southwest portion of the state. Named after them, the county name is probably phonetically accurate based on pronunciations of the time.
If you are in that area, you want to look up the final report on the Marmes site, titled Marmes Rockshelter: A Final Report on 11,000 Years of Cultural Use. Published by WSU Press (Washington State University), 2004.
The site is on the Palouse River near the junction with the Snake, not too far from you. Some very interesting results.
I made the mistake of taking a year of French in High School... egad! Can't those people spell?
One of the KOB announcers commented on having to learn the correct Spanish enuciation of city names: Pojoque, Albuquerque, Truth or Consequences.
A traveling teepee to teepee salesman of magazines, cheap Asian knock-off trinkets, and artificial caribou hide siding.
But not at Kennewick, where downstream is east.
Check a map.
The site is on the Palouse River near the junction with the Snake, not too far from you.
Thanks for the information on the book. I will see if our public library has it or can get it from the WSU library as it is now at a reduced price of $40 some dollars. (more than I can afford) The site must have been somewhere around the Palouse Falls then? I have alway wanted to see that area, but never made it there when I was younger and now that I am older when the time comes that you think about getting out IT IS TO HOT especially in that area. Maybe I will brave it this year.
I believe the falls are about 6 miles up from the Snake, the Marmes Rockshelter is about 1.5 miles up.
Very interesting reading!
Prior to playing Picard, he was a stage and T.V. actor in London.
Re Africans in South America...are you familiar with the Olmec (sp?) heads ?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.