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The Kennewick Man

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The Kennewick Man
When we think of prehistoric bones and fossils we think of dinosaurs and creatures of huge amount of size, but the findings of Kennewick Man changed the very thought of prehistoric beings. So exactly who is the Kennewick Man and why is he so important? Why is he given such a name as to Kennewick Man? Why would anyone want to fight and file lawsuits on each other to for a pile of old dusty bones? Well that’s what is found here on the case of “Kennewick Man.” Scientist and Native Americans just can’t keep their hands off this precious specimen. Why does one deserve Kennewick Man over the other? What values does he hold for them? Can Kennewick Man do anything to help either the Native Americans of scientist? Even though Native Americans deserve the rights to the Kennewick Man, scientist have just as much rights to study Kennewick Man because the science that they will perform could uncover much truth of the past and scientist discoveries from this specimen could even help us human beings in the future to come. Who exactly is the Kennewick Man? Thousands of years ago Kennewick man lived and hunted in what is now Washington State. His tribe was among the first to cross the land bridge into North America. He had a hard life and lived with many serious injuries, including a spear point embedded in his pelvis. He later died in his forties and was buried by his kinsman. Scientist has the rights to study Kennewick Man. In previous centuries archeologists were content simply to find objects. Today, armed with computer, laboratory analysis, theories about society and culture, and a wide range of questions about human development and migration, scientist now have the tools to shed light on the origins of the first Americans. In other words- we have the tools and the technology, so why not use them? Archeology is especially important and useful in helping us to understand people and events about which little or nothing has been written. The past would be surely


Cited: -Gibbons, Ann. “DNA Enters Dust Up Over Bones” JSTOR. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. -Dr. Robson Bonnichsen,” Mystery of the First Americans” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2012. -Glover, William. “Kennewick Man and the Story of the Settlement of the New World.” Conversation for Exploration. January 1, 2000. May 14, 2009. -Armand Minthorn. "Ancient One / Kennewick Man." Ancient One / Kennewick Man. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. -Lemonick, Michael D. "Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

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