Kennewick Man

Description: Kennewick Man is the name for the skeletal remains of a prehistoric (Paleo-Indian) man found on a bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, USA, on July 28, 1996. The discovery of Kennewick Man was accidental; a pair of spectators (Will Thomas and David Deacy) found his skull while attending the annual hydroplane races.

The remains had been scattered in the reservoir due to erosion. Following delivery of the cranium by the coroner, they were examined by archaeologist James Chatters. After ten visits to the site, Chatters had managed to collect 350 bones and pieces of bone, which with the skull completed almost an entire skeleton. The cranium was fully intact with all the teeth that had been present at the time of death. All major bones were found, except the sternum and a few bones of the hands and feet. The remains were determined to be those of a male of late middle age, and tall, slender build. Many of the bones were broken into several pieces. At the University of California at Riverside, a small bone fragment was subjected to radiocarbon dating. This fixed the age of the skeleton at approximately 9,300 years. After studying the bones, Chatters concluded they belonged to a European male about 68 inches tall who had died in his mid fifties.