Washington (State) - State & Local History, Excavations - U.S. - Archaeology, Anthropometry & Biostatistics, U.S. - West - General & Miscellaneous - Antiquities, Native North American Peoples - Anthropology & Archaeology, North America - Archaeology, Phys
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Overview
In 1996, two young men found a skeleton along the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. "Kennewick Man," as he became known, was brought to forensic anthropologist Jim Chatters, who was astonished when tests revealed the skeleton to be nearly 9,500 years old, one of the oldest intact skeletons ever found in North America -- and one that bore little resemblance to modern Native Americans. So who was Kennewick Man, and where did he come from? Chatters set off to find out, but his work on the skeleton was soon halted when local Native American groups claimed the skeleton as an ancestor under federal law, and demanded the right to rebury the remains. Agreeing with their claim, the U.S. government seized Kennewick Man and put him into federal storage, where he remains to this day. So began a harsh, politically charged conflict, with scientists, Native Americans, and government agencies fighting to decide the destiny of Kennewick Man. While this battle raged, Chatters began a quest to understand the lives and origins of Kennewick Man and his contemporaries, a quest that took him across three continents and far back in time to learn the identity of these true First Americans. Ultimately, it led him to a sense of what it really means to be human....skeleton known as Kennewick Man was discovered in 1996 by two young men along the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. When the skeleton was brought to Jim Chatters, a forensic anthropologist, Chatters first believed that the remains were those of a nineteenth-century pioneer...
Synopsis
An anthropologist journeys back in time to the early history of North America to look at growing evidence about early visitors to these shores who predate the Native Americans and describes the 1996 discovery of a skeleton near Kennewick, Washington, that was 9,500 years old and whose physical characteristics were unlike those of American Indians. 40,000 first printing.Editorials
Library Journal
In July 1996, Chatters, an anthropologist and forensic consultant, was contacted by a coroner to look at bones found by two college students wading near the shore of the Columbia River near Kennewick, WA. Radiocarbon dating found the remains to be 9500 years old. This book is Chatters's account of the discovery and what followed, an engrossing mix of scientific detective work and the social and political issues surrounding the remains, which came to be known as "Kennewick Man." He describes the impact of the National American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a federal law passed in 1990, upon scientific investigation and the intervention of Native American groups who claimed the remains for reburial, and then broadens the scope of the work through his reexamination of the physical evidence and theories about the first people to inhabit the Americas, "Paleo-Americans." Throughout, Chatters is candid about his own biases and tells his story in a clear and straightforward manner. Lay readers as well as students of anthropology will find fascinating material here, especially as a lawsuit by eight anthropologists challenging the NAGPRA law is now pending. For public and academic libraries. Joan W. Gartland, Detroit P.L. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.Book Details
Published
June 25, 2001
Publisher
Simon & Schuster
Pages
304
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780684859361