A Report on the Discovery and Recovery of Human Remains from Columbia Park Site, Kennewick, WA, July-September 1996

Summary

This report sets forth a more detailed accounting of the events involved in the discovery and intermittent recovery of the human skeletal elements that are today variously referred to as "Kennewick Man," or the "Ancient One." A preliminary but generalized summary of these events was prepared as part of a historic context report completed by the author in February 1998. The following report provides more specific delineation of the events surrounding the initial discovery and recovery of human remains over a period of several weeks, and provides a baseline discussion of the activities undertaken by the principals during this period of time. Copies of documents that provide primary information concerning these events and activities are listed as exhibits in Tables 1 to 4 of this report.

The timeframe covered in this discussion began on July 28, 1996 with the initial discovery of human remains by members of the public, and concludes with the formal transfer of custody for the remains from the Benton County Coroner's Office to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer District, Walla Walla, (COE Walla Walla) on September 5, 1996. The following accounting of events and activities is derived from various announcements in the press, statements prepared by individuals involved in the activities, internal files of the COE administrative record, and documents filed with the U.S. District Court in conjunction with the ongoing litigation (Bonnichsen et al. v. U.S).

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Francis McManamon

Notes

Redaction Note: Some of the reports included in the project were posted originally and hosted on a public website created and maintained by the National Park Service and Department of the Interior.

General Note: Some documents were converted from the NPS website (http://www.nps.gov/archeology/kennewick/) by cutting and pasting the website text and images into Word 2007 and exporting the .docx file to PDF via Adobe Acrobat 8 Standard.

General Note: Tables, Figures, and Bibliographic references for individual reports or chapters in reports that were formerly accessed via hyperlinks have been appended to the end of each relevant document.

General Note: Prepared for: Bonnichson. et al. v. United States. et al. CV96-1481 JE

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