Jim Chatters
"The Life and Death of Kennewick Man"
Thursday, November 30, 2000, 11:30 AM
LECTURE SUMMARY:
This case began when two young men, sneaking into a county fair, found some bones in a few feet of water on the bank of the Columbia River. They called the coroner, who called Jim Chatters, and gave him the bones in a bucket. After examining the bones briefly, Dr. Chatters combed the site for more bones, and found a near-complete skeleton scattered in the water and along the shore, probably eroded out of the bank by recent flooding. The skeleton appeared to be a middle aged white male.
Then Dr. Chatters noticed a spear point embedded in the hip of skeleton. The point looked ancient, but could also be from a recent Australia/New Guinea culture. After further study and measurement, Dr. Chatters had the bones checked by a competing colleague without showing the lodged spearpoint, as a sort of informal peer-review to see if his interpretation was reasonable. After a few minutes of examination, Dr. Chatters' colleague confirmed that this appeared to be white middle-aged male, probably a settler. Then Chatters showed her the spearpoint. They were both perplexed.
Either he was a settler who had gotten into a previous scrape in Australia/New Guinea, or he was a very unusual-looking paleo-American. Time for a radio carbon date.
The date came back 9300 BC. Chatters sent off a bone chip for DNA testing but there wasn't enough DNA found in the small bone he sent. A few weeks after they found Kennewick Man, Dr. Chatters had to hand him over to the Army Corps. Reports came out that Chatters had called him a Caucasian. Actually he had called him "Caucasoid" which is a term that can apply to people from Europe to central Asia, to parts of the southeast Pacific.
So who was this guy? Lets look at him as an individual. Five foot six to five foot nine, average build from his bones, probably 150-160 pounds. Spearpoint driven into the hind hip from above, probably he twisted to get out of the way, another inch of twisting and the spear would have missed, a little less twisting and it would have hit an artery. Broken ribs, withered left arm from an injury in youth. Healed fracture on the left forehead. What's he look like statistically? Like any other human who is messing around with large dangerous mammals. In his case both large game, and other humans.
Dr. Chatters attributed his skull and spearpoint injuries to human blows. The ribs could have been human or animal caused. Chatters found these left-side skull injuries in 5 out of 11 male Paleo-Indian skulls that he examined from the western North America. He thinks they are club blows from right-handed assailants. Kennewick man's left side rib and left arm injuries may also have come from a right-handed assailant. So what contemporary men have similar injuries statistically? Answer: rodeo cowboys.
Kind of makes sense...hanging around big mammals gets you beat up. Also, Kennewick Man had closed up bones in his ears which is common for people who spend a lot of time in the water. Evidence for spending time in water also comes from his Nitrogen isotope ratios, which were 70% marine. So he was eating a lot of salmon, probably spending a lot of time in the river getting wet catching fish. Evidence of an ear/nose/throat infection suggests that Kennewick Man may have died of a fever.
Dr. Chatters then reviewed the other skeletal remains from around this time. He traveled throughout the west for two years looking at every available skeleton that was 8000 year old or older in museums and collections, about 39 in all. Most of the skeletons are very incomplete, which is what makes Kennewick Man and a few others so special. He took measurements, relied on other archeologists' measurements, etc. So what do these people look like?
The men were fairly similar to Kennewick Man, some more robust, some slimmer, most were a bit to considerably shorter. The women were all small and undernourished judging from stress traces in their bones, probably especially undernourished as juveniles. The women also tended to die younger, usually from age 18 to 23. The men tended to die older, after 30 and not uncommonly after 40 or more. Overall we have a picture of tough, violent, fairly well-fed men and fragile undernourished women who may have died early due to a stressful life. Chatters believes that, most of the individuals from Kennewick Man's time don't look NE Asian; they look more like native islanders of northern Japan or Austronesia.
A colleague of Dr. Chatters at Cal State Northridge has measured thousands of skulls and skeletons for dozens of characteristics. He then ran a multivariate test on all these individuals. Early Americans come out looking like three distinct groups, which has prompted Dr. Chatters to suggest the following scenario: A first wave of invaders (pre 13000 BC) looks like central Asians, a second wave (Kennewick Man was among the last of these) looks most like Austronesians or the Ainu of Hokkaido. Finally, Americans after 7000 BC look most like NE Asians and modern Indians. According to Dr. Chatters, there is growing evidence that there were at least three waves of invasion, the first one so early that it may have been coastal, before glaciers receded. The next was Kennewick Man's people, and the final one the ancestors of present Indians. The first two waves may or may not have any descendents among modern Native Americans, and may or may not have descendents among modern Asians or EurAsians (basically among the related people who did NOT to migrate to North America, but stayed in Asia and left descendents).
What should be done with Kennewick Man? Dr. Chatters is of three minds. The humanist in him believes the skeleton should be put to rest as soon as possible. The scientist in him believes the skeleton should be studied to reveal a better history of the early peopling of North America. The moralist in him believes the remains should be set aside and protected in a special place like Cro-Magnon people are in Europe, not just for study, but for permanent protection and remembrance... set aside in a place of honor for a special people who came before us and deserve to be remembered.
Dr. James Chatters is the controversial archeologist who unearthed and described Kennewick Man. Dr. Chatters has been exploring America's past for nearly 40 years.
In 1996, Dr. Chatters' role as a forensic anthropologist brought him into contact with the ancient skeleton now known as Kennewick Man and launched his search for America's first inhabitants. Dr. Chatters' work has been featured on numerous TV shows including NOVA, 60 Minutes, Discovery and the Learning Channel.
'Ancient Encounters: Kennewick Man and the First Americans'
Chatters writes: "What should become of Kennewick Man? I fear that I have conflicting perspectives on this question. I teach my students that the forensic anthropologist is the advocate for the dead, and as the individual who gathered this man's remains from the river bank, I feel a personal responsibility and attachment to him. In choosing how best to advocate for him, I am of three minds. As a humanist, and as a man, I would like to see him at rest, back at peace in the same ground that held him for 95 centuries! As a scientist, I feel we should retain Kennewick Man under high security, as the Neanderthal and Cro Magnon skeletons of Europe are maintained. The moralist in me says we should hold such individuals as national treasures--messengers from a long distant past who can educate and enlighten future generations!"