The Archaeology of Kennewick Man

Summary

This project includes background information, detailed reports of investigations, summaries, and other documents related to the Kennewick Man. Kennewick Man, also called "the Ancient One" by some, is an ancient individual represented by his nearly complete skeletal remains. The remains were discovered in 1996 under the waters of Lake Wallula, a reservoir in the Columbia River, near Kennewick, Washington. Controversy concerning the study and treatment of the remains was not resolved until a final ruling by the 9th Circuit federal court in 2004. Many of the documents collected under this project report on investigations conducted by the US Department of the Interior (DOI) and Corps of Engineers (COE) on this matter. The content of this project includes HTML documents that are on the National Park Service "Kennewick Man" website, but also includes additional documents and reports related to the project.

Regarding the Kennewick Man skeletal remains, in 2015 and 2016, Senator Patty Murray of Washington and Representatives Newhouse, Heck, Kilmer, and Walden introduced legislation requiring that the Corps of Engineers return the Kennewick remains to the claimant tribes. In December, 2016, President Obama signed legislation requiring the return. On 17 February 2017, at the Burke Museum in Seattle, the remains were handed over to representative of the tribes (Inslee 2017). Early the next morning at a secret location near the Columbia River, Kennewick Man, the Ancient One, was reburied by tribal members.

Cite this Record

The Archaeology of Kennewick Man. ( tDAR id: 6325) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8W95BK9

URL: http://www.nps.gov/archeology/kennewick/


Keywords

Culture
Archaic • Early Archaic • PaleoIndian

Material
Chipped Stone • Dating Sample • Human Remains

Site Name
Kennewick Man Archaeological Site • Tri-Cities Archaeological District NRHP

Site Type
Burial Pit • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Isolated Burial

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Bioarchaeological Research • Consultation • Environment Research • Ethnographic Research • Heritage Management • Historic Background Research • Research Design / Data Recovery Plan

General
Corps of Engineeers • Cultural Affiliation • Department of the Interior • Kennewick Man • NAGPRA • the Ancient One

Geographic Keywords
Columbia River • Columbia River Drainage • Kennewick • Pacific Northwest • Tri-Cities Area • Upper Columbia River Basin • Washington (State / Territory)

Temporal Keywords
Early Archaic • PaleoIndian

Spatial Coverage

min long: -119.165; min lat: 46.213 ; max long: -119.128; max lat: 46.231 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Francis McManamon

Contributor(s): Bruce D. Smith; Clark Spencer Larson; Phillip L. Walker; Jerome C. Rose; Joseph F. Powell; Julie Stein; Gary Huckleberry; Michael K. Trimble; Vicki Cassman; Nancy Oldegaard; Kenneth Ames; Steven Hackenberger; Eugene Hamm; Daniel L. Boxberger; E. R. Taylor, Jr.; David Glenn Smith; D. Andrew Merriwether; Connie Kolmon; Noreen Tuross; Frederica Kaestle; Darden Hood; Douglas Donahue

Principal Investigator(s): Francis McManamon

Sponsor(s): Corps of Engineers; Department of the Interior

Repository(s): Corps of Engineers, National Curation Center, St. Louis; Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

Notes

General 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.

Resources Inside this Project (Viewing 1-27 of 27)

  • Documents (27)
  1. Native American Determination for Kennewick Man (2016)
  2. Technical Report: Assessment of the genetic analyses of Rasmussen et al. (2015) (2016)
  3. Kennewick Man Case: Scientific Studies and Legal Issues (2014)
  4. An Introducton and Index to Documents and Reports about the Kennewick Man (2013)
  5. Cultural Affiliation Report Kennewick Man: All Chapters (2000)
  6. Cultural Affiliation Report, Chapter 1: Background and Scope for the Kennewick Man Cultural Affiliation Reports (2000)
  7. Cultural Affiliation Report, Chapter 2: Review of the Archaeological Data (2000)
  8. Cultural Affiliation Report, Chapter 3: Review of Traditional Historical and Ethnographic Information (2000)
  9. Cultural Affiliation Report, Chapter 4: Review of Linguistic Information (2000)
  10. Cultural Affiliation Report, Chapter 5: Cultural Affiliation Study of the Kennewick Human Remains: Review of Bio-Archaeological Information (2000)
  11. Letter from Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt to Secretary of the Army Louis Caldera Regarding Disposition of the Kennewick Human Remains (2000)
  12. Memorandum: Determination that the Kennewick Skeltal Remains are "Native American" for the Purposes of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) (2000)
  13. Potential for DNA Testing of the Human Remains from Columbia Park, Kennewick, Washington [Feb. 3, 2000] (2000)
  14. Report on the Skeletal Taphonomy, Dating, and DNA Testing Results of the Kennewick Human Remains from Columbia Park, Kennewick, Washington [September 2000] (2000)
  15. Reports on the Cultural Affiliation of the Kennewick Man (2000)
  16. U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Press Releases [Oct. 29, 1998 - Sept. 25, 2000] (2000)
  17. Report on the Non-Destructive Examination, Description, and Analysis of the Human Remains from Columbia Park, Kennewick, Washington [October 1999] (1999)
  18. Behind the Scenes--Geology of the Site: Full report on the geoarchaeological data and research objectives (1998)
  19. Geologic, Geoarchaeologic, and Historical Investigation of the Discovery Site of Ancient Remains in Columbia Park, Kennewick, Washington (1998)
  20. Geologic, Geoarchaeologic, and Historical Investigation of the Discovery Site of Ancient Remains in Columbia Park, Kennewick, Washington (1998)
  21. An Interagency Agreement Between DOA and DOI on the Delegation of Responsibilities for the Kennewick Human Remains [March 24, 1998] (1998)
  22. Preliminary Geoarchaeological Studies at Columbia Park, Kennewick, Washington, USA (1998)
  23. A Report on the Discovery and Recovery of Human Remains from Columbia Park Site, Kennewick, WA, July-September 1996 (1998)
  24. Research Design: Approach to Documentation, Analysis, Interpretation, and Disposition of Human Remains Inadvertently Discovered at Columnbia Park, Kennewick, WA (1998)
  25. Review and Comment on the Draft Research Design (20 October 1998): Approach to Documentation, Analysis, Interpretation, and Disposition of Human Remains Inadvertently Discovered at Columbia Park, Kennewick, WA (1998)
  26. Review: "Department of Interior Approach to Documentation, Analysis, Interpretation, and Disposition of Human Remains Inadvertently Discovered at Columbia Park, Kennewick, WA" (Draft Document of 20 October 1998) (1998)
  27. Letter--Departmental Consulting Archeologist, DOI-NPS, to the US Army Corps of Engineers regarding questions about Kennewick Man [Dec. 23, 1997] (1997)