Has the racial ancestry of Kennewick Man been accurately determined?

zbeckabee

Part 1 of 2 -- Kennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, USA on July 28, 1996. In July 2005, a team of scientists from around the United States convened in Seattle for ten days to study the remains, making many detailed measurements and determining the cause of death. The skeleton is nearly complete, missing only the sternum and a few small bones of hands and feet. All teeth were present at the time of death. This was a male of late middle age (40-55 years), and tall (170 to 176 cm ), slender build. He had suffered numerous injuries, the most severe of which were compound fractures of at least 6 ribs and apparent damage to his left shoulder musculature, atrophy of the left humerus due to the muscle damage, and the healing projectile wound in his right pelvis. The lack of head flattening from cradle board use, minimal arthritis in weight-bearing bones, and the unusually light wear on his teeth distinguish the behavior and diet of Kennewick Man from that of more recent peoples in the region. A fragment of the fifth left metacarpal analyzed by AMS has an isotopically-corrected age of 8410 +/- 60 B.P. (UCR 3476) (ca 7300 to 7600 B.C.). Amino acids and stable isotopes indicate heavy dependence on anadromous fish. DNA was intact, but two partially-completed extractions were inconclusive. Jul 23 09, 9:17 PM

zbeckabee

Part 2 of 2 -- 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. Much, however, is beyond our reach regardless of political outcomes. No matter how long we might study the Kennewick man we would never know the form or color of his eyes, skin and hair, whether his hair was curly or straight, his lips thin or full -- in short many of the characteristics by which we judge living peoples' racial affiliation. We will never be certain if his wound was by accident or intent, what language he spoke, or his religious beliefs. We cannot know if he is truly anyone's ancestor. Given the millennia since he lived, he may be sire to none or all of us. http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/kennewick_man.html The remains are now at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, where they were deposited in October 1998. They are still legally the property of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, since they were found on land belonging to them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennewick_man Jul 23 09, 9:18 PM

zbeckabee

Other References: http://www.nps.gov/archeology/kennewick/tuross_kolman.htm http://www.nps.gov/archeology/kennewick/ http://www.umatilla.nsn.us/kman5.html http://www.newnation.org/NNN-kennewick-man.html Jul 23 09, 9:21 PM