When we think of prehistoric things they may think of things of the past, but with the breakthrough unearthing of the Kennewick Man transformed peoples thought of prehistoric existences. The Kennewick Man or “The Ancient Man” is the name given to the skeletal remains of a man found in Kennewick, Washington on July 28,1996. A pair of bystanders accidentally found the skeleton remains of the Kennewick Man. With the discovery it has brought up many disagreements about what to do with the Kennewick man. The question now is who is really responsible for the remains of the Kennewick Man.
The remains of the Kennewick man are one of the oldest and complete remains ever found. The estimated 9,000-year-old skeleton is described as Caucasoid. After the discovery it was described as one of the most complete male skeletons ever unearthed in America. The Kennewick Man remains were the subject of a court battle between researchers who want to learn all they can about “The Ancient One”, and the U.S. Army Corps. The Corps wanted to return the Kennewick Man to his rightful place so that the American Indian tribes can rebury him without the Kennewick Man being studied on. But under United States law human remains cannot be owned by anyone. Even though the Kennewick Man remains were discovered and recovered from federal land and is now
…show more content…
The study of the Kennewick Man would help shed a new light on the issue and perhaps settle some of the controversies surrounding the remains. In a way the remains of the Kennewick Man belong to whoever can make the most use out of the Kennewick Man. However at the same time the remains of the Kennewick Man could be examined without harm and then the skeletal remains can be returned to his rightful and final resting place and be connected to his people as
Based on the research conducted by the Forensic Anthropologist Chatters on the skeletal remains of the Kennewick man, he seems to be a European migrant. The man definitely belonged to the western hemisphere, as definitive characteristics indicate so. Furthermore, he could belong either to the east or to the west of the Atlantic, since forensic studies indicate that his diet was strongly composed of Anadromous fish – fish born in the sea and lives in fresh water, before returning to the sea to spawn. As the video “The first Americans-Part 1” mentions the European roots that the Kennewick man had, I would agree with the claims of the forensic anthropologist that the man had a European descent. The video also mentioned that Native Americans themselves
Kennewick Man was found on July 28, 1996 below Lake Wallula, a section of the Columbia River, in Washington. As the owners of the land, the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) had initial control of the remains. In early inspections Kennewick man was thought to be an early European settler because of the
In her book, “A Man Without Words,” Susan Schaller describes how the eighteenth century French philosophers continually exercised speculation as to how much of human nature was "given" and native, and how much was dependent on language and culture. She encountered Ildefonso, a Mexican Indian who lived in the most unique form of isolation, who was born deaf, and had never been taught even the most basic language. She set herself the challenge to make contact with this man, and introduce him to language. Ildefonso not only lacked any language but lacked any idea of language: he had no conception, at first, of what Schaller was trying to do, yet Ildefonso had a yearning to
The project was reviewed and accepted by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), to work with human subjects. Additionally, this project was reviewed and accepted by the Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma Tribal Administration and the National Historic Landmarks Program of the National Park Service allowing this project to work in accordance with Section 106 of the archaeology guidelines.
"I was taken out on to the moss and shown where the previous day 's peat had been taken from. Walking the uncut sections, I found a flap of dark, tanned skin projecting from below. Reporting my discovery to the police, we agreed I would be given a day to excavate the remains. On 6 August, the site was recorded and sampled, the limits of the remains were established and Lindow Man was lifted - within his block of surrounding peat - on his way to international celebrity". (Rick Turner, newly appointed county archaeologist)
Individuals matter: The Turkana boy’s long slender body allowed for efficient long distance running, good for a hot and humid environment, and height gave him a advantage in spotting prey and possible predators. A semi developed spinal cord shows signs of developing modern structure all enabling this hominin to have the needed adaptations to avoid predators as well kill prey.
2. Reflect on the information presented in this week’s lesson and provide an insightful response to each question writing no more than two paragraphs.
Wisconsin, offers 2 out 3 of the oldest sites that helps prove the existence of pre-Clovis humanity and life. In 1992, Kenosha was put on the map as groundbreaking, thanks to a man named David Wasion. Wasion, helped dig up the remains of a mammoth that was originally thought to be 12,310 years old, but after more sophisticated carbon dating was done the bones were proven to be more than 14,500 years old. Yet, what was truly significant about this find, was that the bones appeared to be “butchered,” leading archeologist to conclude that the animal had been hunted and consumed by Native Americans that lived in Northern America earlier than originally believed.
Serpent Mound, located in Peebles, Ohio is the largest existing prehistoric effigy mound documented, it is ~400 meters long and was built by Adena people approximately 2,300 years ago, according to the most recent studies of the site (Romain & others 2017, p. 201). The modern-day, Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma claim ancestral connection to the site. Serpent Mound has been adopted as an Ohio State Memorial and a National Historic Landmark, due to its iconic size and shape that resembles a coiling serpent with an egg in in its’ jaw (Herrmann & others 2014, p.117). The site is currently under consideration to be an UNESCO World Heritage site; however, the United States recently cut ties with UNESCO, potentially jeopardizing nominations for U.S.-based archaeological sites and historic properties (Department of State 2017).
Kennewick Man has been an ongoing controversy among the archaeologists and Native American communities. Scientists believe that the studying of Kennewick Man is crucial to understanding the earliest of human history on the American continent, as he provides a rare opportunity to look at well preserved, mostly intact, ancient American remains. They feel that repatriation should not occur until they are able to study the skeleton enough to identify which cultural group he belongs to. Native American communities disagree, as they feel that scientists and the public disregard and disrespect the value of their religious beliefs. However, remains should not be repatriated to a Native group of it is unclear what group they belong to. Archaeologists
In the short story, “The Man in the Black Suit” by Stephan King, an old man named Gary retells a story of himself as a nine-year-old boy meeting the devil on the bank of castle stream. In Gary’s disturbing encounter the man in the black suit delivers some horrifying news of his mother to young Gary in efforts to eat him up. In quick haste, Gary gets away and runs into his father who did not accredit the boy’s story at first but later found himself a believer . King uses setting, point of view and language to convey to the reader his central idea of fear throughout the story.
In the early 1900’s, Native American skulls and bones were dug up and studied. In response to the outrage this caused, the government issued the NAGPRA or the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act. In Section 3 (OWNERSHIP) part A states, “The ownership or control of Native American cultural items which are excavated or discovered on Federal or tribal lands…[is given to] the Indian tribe that is recognized as aboriginally occupying that area in which the objects were discovered, if… such tribe claims for such remains or objects” (NAGPRA 3). In fewer words, this passage is saying that any items or remains affiliated with religion found on tribal or Federal land must be handed over to the Native Americans that have traditionally lived closest to the spot where the object/remains were found. By comparing a map of traditional tribal lands in Washington state to where Kennewick Man was found, it’s easy to see that the remains were discovered between the Palouse and Cayuse/Umatilla lands, along the Columbia River (Document #1, Figure 1, Traditional Tribal Lands in WA State Prior to White
“It wasn’t until 1958 that the Bigfoot legend really started to kick off in the United States. That year, a man named Gerald Crew found a set of large footprints at a construction site where he worked in California” (Upton). Gerald Crew examined the large footprints and declared the footprints were from a very big species that could have been Bigfoot. “In 1967, the ‘Patterson-Gimli film’ was captured. The film shows a tall, hairy ‘Bigfoot’ walking through the forest” (Upton). This real film of Bigfoot’s existence grabbed the public’s attention about this topic and the person captured real footage of the Bigfoot walking in the forest. “The legend of Bigfoot existed long before the European men arrived in the New World. The Coastal Indians tribes of British Columbia and in particular the Kwakiutls had carved totem poles and face masks which clearly had references to a ‘man-beast’” (Shackley). Even a long time ago, many Indian tribes living in North America have maybe have seen or heard about Bigfoot being alive and living in the woods on North American soil. Also, the man-beast face masks referenced Bigfoot's facial feautre of the
Despite the intense efforts to uncover information on the prehistoric Native Americans occupying the Washington Coast, very little archaeological evidence has been uncovered to suggest prehistoric occupation (Cole, et.al, 1996). A finding that fiercely contrasts with the early historic record, which projects a population total of 6,000, and as such, should demonstrate heavy if not consistent findings within the region (Cole, et.al, 1996). However, this is not the case for the Washington State coastline. Despite the extent of research that has been conducted from 1976-1994, the archeological findings along the Southern Washington Coastline are nonexistent, less for what has been found upon the surface. Cole and associates attempted to find the missing link between as to where the evidence may have gone. In 1990 two geologist accidentally uncovered prehistoric fishing camps in the interdial zone, covered by mud from an earthquake that occurred 300 years ago (Cole, et.al, 1996). By studying the geophysical qualities of Southern Washington (1700 AD), Cole and associates, discover that seismic activity at the Cascadia subduction zone caused not only an earthquake, but a substantial Tsunami, which worked to bury the
When visiting museums such as the American Museum of Natural History in New York City we can get a first-hand look at some of the massive creatures like the wooly mammoth that used to roam our planet some 11,000 years ago. And after viewing the skeletons of such extraordinary creatures known as the megafauna we may ponder as to what event transpired to eliminate so many species. What we do know is the late Pleistocene era marked a time of fluctuating climate that coincided with the migration of people into the New World. During this period mammals such as the woolly mammoth and mastodons were becoming extinct. However, questions still remain to determine if it was because of severe climatic change, or possibly the extinctions occurred from over-hunting by humans, or possibly a combination of both? These are many of the concerns that have created the foundation for a serious debate among many scholars in the anthropology and archaeology community.