The Kennewick Man

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

After that they “analyze bones to determine the victim's biological profile” as it is said in “What is Forensic Anthropology” by R.U. Steinberg.

If you were a forensic anthropologist and were studying human remains, what information would you look for in the bones? Why would this information be helpful?

“This is my lab and what we do is study bones,” states Kari Bruwelheide in her video entitled “30,000 Skeletons”. Out of all three resources, “Puzzles of the Chesapeake” by Sally Walker, “Forensic Anthropology” by an unknown author, and “30,000 Skeletons” by Smithsonian Education, but presented by Kari Bruwelheide, “30,000 Skeletons” is by far better at explaining the role of an anthropologist. It is unbeatable because it is a video and Kari Bruwelheide has personal experience of being a forensic anthropologist. A forensic anthropologist is a scientist that studies human remains, or in another word, skeletons, to try to find out information.

Dr. Bill bass didn 't always want to be an expert in forensics and anthropology. He was attending the university of Kentucky for a master 's degree in counseling. It just so happens a very well known anthropology professor , named Dr. Charles E. Snow, also taught at he same university. Dr. Bass was taking an anthropology class from Dr. Snow for fun. Some months before there was a fiery crash and one of the bodies was left unrecognizable. Its just so happens that Dr. Snow wanted to take Dr. Bass along with him to identify the body. They drove to the cemetery where the corpse was dug up and Dr. snow identified the body and was paid 25 dollars. He gave Dr. Bass 5 dollars for

NAGPRA promises Native groups that remains would be returned to them if the remains were associated with their group, however Kennewick man does not necessarily “belong” to any specific group at this point in time. There are two perspectives to this dilemma: the Native perspective valuing the sacredness of the remains, and the scientific perspective valuing the eagerness to study the remains (Lee, 2008). Stories written by Donald Sampson and Rechanda Lee give insight on the Native perspective arguing that science is degrading Native American identity and disrespecting the culture and religion (Lee, 2008). They do not like that the graves of their ancestors are disturbed and dissected to be studied (Sampson, 2008). Traditional histories are important to Native American communities as it provides identity and lineage linked to their respected communities. Natives feel that a group of scientists should not be telling them what their history is as they have faith in what is passed down to them orally (Lee, 2008). Many Natives feel as if scientists need to show respect and let the Native communities be heard. (Lee, 2008). Scientists, however, are addressing Principle No.2 of the Principles of Archaeological Ethics as identifying the remains and associating them to a certain group determines who the remains actually belong to. Both Lee and Sampson argue that using the cranial morphology of Kennewick man to determine his race is the result of irrationality and imagination. Both of the passages that they wrote claim to be addressing the scientific aspect of Kennewick man, however they seem to be writing with a strong emotional language rather than scientific. In Sampson’s case, for example, he seems to be personally attacking the scientists involved with Kennewick man rather than the scientific evidence provided. The only scientific evidence that was addressed in these two

Kennewick man should be studied because the evidence shows the bones are not Native. According to the article “Kennewick Man” it reads “Many of the characteristics

Forensic anthropologist knowledge of the human body, helps aid in the outcome of a death investigation. (Stanojevich) To help solve criminal trials, the systematic recovery and collection of physical evidence in the field, the scientific analysis in the laboratory and the protection of integrity of evidence, is crucial. Usually, response teams from either federal, state, or local authorities will gather and examine the physical evidence of a crime scene, but there are often times, when a forensic anthropologist is called in. Forensic anthropologist are major players, because they are trained in anthropology, archaeology, human osteology, forensic taphonomy, and chain-of-evidence procedures. Their study of human remains, aids in the case by working to assess the age, sex, stature, ancestry and unique features of a skeleton. Forensic anthropologist have been used to investigate victims of homicide, accidental deaths, natural deaths, and mass fatalities. The cases a forensic anthropologist works on usually involve victims that are decomposed, skeletonized, or have body parts that are missing. Often times, the forensic anthropologist, is the last chance for identification and justice for the victims. (Walsh-Haney)

Some things that an anthropologist does is that they are to determine the victim's age,gender,race,height and other characteristics about the victium just by using the remains of the victims like their bones becasue bones are the only thing that stays when people die.How they tell all of these things are is amazing but you can never know who is missing and who is not reported or dead.

(Wood, 2014) The role of a forensic Anthropologist is very important in any death investigation, since forensic anthropologist understand the different physical properties of skeleton, demonstrating a crucial value to the field of forensic science. (Stanojevich, 2012) Standard work of forensic

When a person dies, the natural forces of decomposition cause for the soft tissue to breakdown and ultimately disappear over time. If enough time has gone by, any soft tissue evidence present at the time of death will also have disappeared. Once this has occurred, it is up to forensic anthropologists to analyze the skeletal remains for evidence of trauma in order to help the forensic pathologist assign a cause and manner of death to this individual. The task is complicated by the similarities between antemortem and perimortem injuries, the presence of skeletal anomalies, as well as the postmortem changes that can occur when skeletal remains are exposed to the elements of nature.

Dr. Billy Bass says in an article called “Dead men talking” that the first step is to examine the crime and see what the scene tells you. I looked around and decided to call the police to help. They came out and started digging up more bones. As a forensic anthropologist I started looking at the bones. Dr. Billy Bass states that bones can look arthritic and these bones looked very young and had no signs of arthritis. I concluded the person was probably

     So the question still remains, whom does the Kennewick man belong to? What if the bones don’t belong to any of the

My name is Sean Keefe and I am an intern for the recently deceased Harvey Manfrenjensenjen. While sorting through samples I came across 6 hominin skulls that lack analysis. In this project, I am going to explain and talk about the six skulls in the Anthropology Department that I found. To do this, I will use what I have learned in lecture, as well as numerous outside sources to describe three defining characteristics for each skull. Additionally, I will provide necessary information about each skull if needed. After that, I will put the fossil samples in evolutionary order form the oldest to the youngest. Lastly, I will include a family tree that shows age comparison and ancestral relationships between the homonids.

During an excavation it is the job of an osteologist to provide information about the individual. The intention of analysing osteological remains is to provide details of the remains recovered, the condition of individual specimens, skeletal completeness and to provide a biological profile. This profile includes the age, sex, health, diet and stature of the individual. (Gaynor Western. 2009). This can be done using a multitude of methods and can allow one to make speculations about the individual’s lifestyle. Here I will elaborate on the information that can be recovered and how it is obtained.