Also read up on Kennewick Man
I'm reading up on the Kennewick Chrysler New Yorker.
That's where my car is right now waiting for a $2500 transmission job.
The Kennewick Man is a very interesting find. Here is some information on him:
The Unknown and Unknowable
mnh.si.edu
The Kennewick discovery, along with other recent finds in Nevada, may significantly alter conventional views of how, when, and by whom the Americas were peopled. If the Corps persists in its refusal to allow additional studies and decides on immediate repatriation, experts will lose the chance to directly examine this rare phenomenon. Although I have studied him extensively and learned much about his life, our descendants--of whatever ethnicity-- will lose the broader view that only multiple perspectives can provide. Data that might be used for such studies in lieu of actual bones remain incomplete as of this writing. When the remains were seized, I had yet to take measured photographs of the postcranial skeleton, and I was still waiting for specialized equipment for state-of-the-art skull measurement. Furthermore, DNA was well preserved and, if restrictive enzyme analysis and detailed sequencing were completed, we might ultimately learn this man's relationship to other peoples of his time and ours. In broader view, reburial without study may set a precedent that forecloses the opportunity for study of most future paleoAmerican finds.
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. |
