The Anzick Child
Discovery:
The name Anzick comes from Sarah Anzick who was only two years old when construction workers accidentally found the skeleton on her family's property near Southern Montana in 1968. She grew up to become a genome researcher, and was a member of the group that analyzed the skeleton's DNA. The skeleton has been estimated to be one to two years old, and scientists have also concluded that it was a boy.
Scientific Exploration:
Scientists began to conduct thorough DNA tests on the skeleton to see if they could get more information on how people initially migrated to America. They conducted a deep analysis of the skeleton's DNA from Mitochondrial DNA analysis,, Nuclear DNA analysis and Y-chromosome analysis.
When conducting a nuclear DNA analysis on the skeleton, which is finding DNA inside of each cell's nucleus, it’s genome patterns were significantly more similar to that of Native Americans from Central and South America than with Native American populations from North America.
Implications:
Since the DNA analysis links the Anzick child to a heritage of Native Americans from Central and South America, it rejects the Solutrean Hypothesis, a scientific theory that settlers traveled to America from the Southeast European Sea. The findings support that people came to America from Asia, specifically the Bering Strait a landmass that connected Asia to America, but is now covered with water.
In addition to scientific discovery, these findings could also help tribes that wish to reclaim ancient American skeletons such as Kennewick Man. Reclaiming this artifact would be a monstrous win for Native Americans.
Ethical standpoint:
Sarah Anzick was having a moral dilemma about what to do with the skeleton. She worried that if they reburied the sacred artifact that it would destroy the DNA and data. But she also believed that it was important that the skeleton was reburied out of respect for their ancestors.
The Kennewick Man
Discovery:
Two college students located in Kennewick, Washington in the Summer of 1996 discovered The Kennewick Man. The Kennewick Man is noted to be one of the most important human skeletons ever found in North America. The college students came across a skull floating in the Columbia River and that was the first discovery of the Kennewick Man. After calling the police and various archeologists, the professionals were able to dig out almost an entire skeleton.
Scientific Exploration:
Scientists expected this skeleton to belong to either a Native American, early pioneer or early trapper. To their surprise, after lots of testing it was proven that this skeleton was not Native American, an early pioneer or early trapper but a prehistoric paleoamerican man. This skeleton ended up being more than 9,000 years old! This was a huge scientific tool for archaeologists and scientists. “No fewer than 48 authors and 17 researchers, photographers and editors contributed to the 680-page Kennewick Man: The Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton” (Preston).
Implications/Ethical Standpoint:
Although the discovery of the Kennewick Man was one of the most important skeletal discoveries in all of North America, it also brought up some legal issues. Many Native Americans claimed that The Kennewick Man was an ancestor of theirs and that his remains should be buried. Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (Nagpra) they claimed that the bones of the Kennewick man should be buried. In contrast, a group of anthropologists wanting the skeleton for research argued that the features of the skeleton were not similar enough to the people of the local Native American tribes and actually resembled European features and some shared features the the Ainu in Japan and Polynesians. The anthropologists ended up winning a legal bid in 2004 that gave them permission to study the skeleton. Much later, there were more tests done and it was restated that “We can conclude very clearly he is most clearly related to contemporary Native Americans” (Morelle). The Kennewick man is currently in The Burke Museum. The museum will continue to care for the skeleton until the transfer of it to the tribes for burial.
Works Cited:
Balter, Michael. "Native Americans Descend From Ancient Montana Boy." Science | AAAS. N.p., 12
Jan. 2016. Web. 29 Jan. 2017.
Fountain, Amy. "The Peopling of the Americas." Module Three. Tucson. 29 Jan. 2017. Lecture.
Morelle, Rebecca. "DNA Reignites Kennewick Man Debate." BBC News. BBC, 18 June 2015. Web.
05 Feb. 2017
Preston, Douglas. "The Kennewick Man Finally Freed to Share His Secrets." Smithsonian.com.
Smithsonian Institution, Sept. 2014. Web. 05 Feb. 2017.
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