Old Bones Officially Native American

Anthropologists have sued for right to study Kennewick Man skeleton

Seattle – New tests on ancient bones that might hold the key to the origins of the first humans on this continent have reinforced previous estimates that the bones are more than 9,000 years old, scientists said today.

The official age of the bones means the skeleton, known as Kennewick Man, will likely be legally classified as Native American. But that is unlikely to end a custody battle over the remains.

The age and origin of Kennewick Man have been in dispute since the human remains, among the oldest and most complete skeletons found in North America, were discovered in the shallows of the Columbia River in 1996.

Scientists have speculated Kennewick Man may have been European, Asian or Polynesian origin.

The Department of the Interior today released results of radiocarbon dating on the bones, placing their age between 9,320 and 9,510 years old. The department also said the remains should be classified as Native American under federal law.

How to classify ancient remains and who should have custody of such bones is hotly debated these days among researchers, politicians and Indian tribes. The growing rift comes at a time when scientific theory about how the Americans were peopled is also changing, leading researchers to argue that study of pre-Columbian bones is more important than ever.

Such has been the case with Kennewick Man. A group of anthropologists has sued for the right to study the bones, while a coalition of Indian tribes wants to bury the remains without additional examination.

If Kennewick Man can be linked by the government to a modern-day Indian tribe, the bones would likely be returned to the tribe.

Typically, the government has classified bones over 500 years old as Native American, citing 1990 federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

A federal judge in Portland, Ore., has given the government until March 24 to decide if it will give the eight anthropologists access to the bones.

Alan L. Schneider, the anthropologists’ lawyer, contends the age of the bones is not enough to classify the remains as Native American and the government has erred in its interpretation of the federal law.