Riddle of the Bones: Politics, Science, Race, and the Story of Kennewick Man [Hardcover]

Roger Downey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0387988777 | ISBN-13: 978-0387988771 | Edition: 1

From its discovery in the Columbia River three years ago, reporter Roger Downey has chronicled the epic adventures of the skeleton called "Kennewick Man": first as a pretext for a media feeding-frenzy, then as the centerpiece of a legal circus pitting celebrated scientists against Native Americans, the Corps of Engineers, and the Clinton White House, finally, at long last, as an object of rational scientific study.
The saga of Kennewick Man offers abundant opportunity to explore today's rapidly-changing scientific theories about how the Americas first came to be settled, and by whom. But it also casts much light on the deep divisions within the fields of anthropology and archeology concerning the role of politics and race in the pursuit of scientific goals, what constitutes ethical procedure in dealing with ancient human remains and living individuals, and the very purpose and direction of the scientific enterprise itself.
With an easy style that keeps you hooked from beginning to end, Downey describes the major players in this continuing debate and details the controversial scientific, religious, and political arguments surrounding Kennewick Man.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Poor Kennewick Man--over 9,000 years old and embroiled in an incredibly complex, protracted, and acrimonious contemporary litigation. It's probably a good thing he's dead. Bits of him have gone missing. He's been transported in Ziploc bags accompanied by armed guard. He's been buried, washed up, warehoused. His is a crisis of identity of epic proportions in an era and culture in which identity and ethnicity are key. Who is he? It depends, as journalist Roger Downey notes in Riddle of the Bones, on whom you ask. Downey has covered the story since the skeleton's discovery in 1996, and in that sense he is an expert and participant. What Downey is not is an archeologist, an anthropologist, or a member of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Clinton administration, or any tribe claiming pre-Columbus roots in this country. As a result, his book portrays the frustrations of these groups without being partial and without being so steeped in one set of lore, expertise, or ideology as to make his account either impenetrable or biased. And its colorful cast of characters and jaunty prose make this a good book for the general reader: "As Van Pelt saw it, the law was clear... Chatters's Corps permit to dig at a site more than a mile downriver no more gave him the right to investigate or even handle remains from another than it licensed him to dig in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. This just might be a chance to catch Jimmie with his scientific pants down." --Julia Riches

From Library Journal

Any story that includes such a diverse cast of characters as the U.S. government, five Native American tribes (the Yakima, Nez Perce, Umatilla, Colville, and Wanapum), archaeologists, anthropologists, and the Asatru Folk Assembly (a pagan group that worships Old Norse gods) has to be fascinating. Such is the tale of Kennewick Man, whose remains have ignited a maelstrom that has yet to be concluded and will have long-ranging implications as to the ownership, treatment, and study of Native American remains. (Kennewick Man refers to an 8000-year-old skull found along the Columbia River in 1996 that proved to be of Caucasian origin, countering the theory that the earliest humans in North America came from Asia.) Downey, a Seattle-based reporter, presents a blow-by-blow account of the battle so far over Kennewick Man. At its core a sad story, since it does involve human remains, this is also somewhat comical at times. It has more twists and turns than most mystery novels and is an entertaining read. Recommended for public libraries. Thomas, curator of anthropology and former chair of the Department of Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, uses the legal battle over Kennewick Man in his outstanding scholarly study of the root causes of the distrust between archaeologists and Native American groups. He carefully explores both sides of the issue, showing that while archaeologists have in the past taken great liberties with Native Americans and their culture, their work has sometimes been beneficial. He also attempts to show that it is possible to respect the concerns of Native Americans and conduct good research at the same time. His solution is certainly preferable to settling these issues in courthouses across the country. This important piece of work is highly recommended for all academic collections in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, history, and Native American studies.
-John Burch, Hagan Memorial Lib., Williamsburg, KY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 214 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (February 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0387988777
• ISBN-13: 978-0387988771
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,059,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make no bones about it, May 18, 2000

By 

David Payson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riddle of the Bones: Politics, Science, Race, and the Story of Kennewick Man (Hardcover)

Every so often you read a book that is so much better than you thought it was going to be, you are stunned. Riddle of the Bones was such a book for me. With "Bones," author Roger Downey has given us a significant piece of work. And like one of the archeological treasures he describes in his book, it is a real find. This is a book that will withstand the test of time--maybe not geologic time, but regular time.

What's remarkable about this book is that it takes on the challenge of telling the story of humankind's long and controversial search for its origins while at the same time chronicling the tangled story of Kennewick Man, with all of its legal maneuvering, back-stabbing, mumbo-jumbo science, and media saturation.

This book is good enough to launch a few careers, because it provides a valuable lesson in the scientific disciplines seeking to answer the multitude of questions regarding human origin. To read this book is to gain an understanding of how "what came before" links with the modern-day Kennewick case. You will also learn about hard science from reading this book--about the latest advances in radiocarbon-dating, blood group typing, statistical analysis, molecular biology, genetic drift, and the like. In an easy style, the author explains the latest scientific breakthroughs in studies of early humans, and keeps this information in context with the Kennewick Man case.

Throughout the book, interspersed with the K-Man story, the author relates "case histories" of previous significant archeological finds in the Americas--from the finds of the Folsom and Clovis peoples in New Mexico to the flooded-out Marmes remains along the Palouse River in Washington state. In another case, he explains how the Monte Verde dig in Chile, South America, is revolutionizing much of today's thinking on the arrival of the first peoples on this continent. The author's first-hand descriptions of his visits to several of these sites not only make for fascinating reading, they help us understand why Kennewick Man has become such a sensational story in relation to the other finds. For example, had the Kennewick Man remains been handled in the same manner as those from the Buhl site in Idaho--that is, returned to the indigenous Indian tribes in accordance with federal law, then, in all likelihood, the sensational story of Kennewick Man would have never happened.

And, oh, what a cast of characters, living and dead, the author parades before us in this book-Indians, reporters, rogue scientists, mainstream scientists, politicians, lawyers, judges, feds, Asatrus warriors (Viking wannabes), civilians-on and on they have been drawn into the K-Man case. From the very beginning they've been stonewalling, bickering, sensationalizing, breaking the law, and otherwise turning the case upside down. Don't look too hard for hero figures in this book, for they are hard to find.

Most certainly, the best things to come out of the Kennewick Man case to this point is this book. The author tackles the tough issues and makes his arguments in convincing fashion, backing his contentions with sound, well-substantiated facts, not dogma. He's helped convince me that Kennewick Man deserves to be back in the earth, not stuck away in some moldy museum in Seattle. White Man's law may have prevailed over Indian law to this point. But the story of Kennewick Man is a long way from over--and many people believe, myself included, that "The Ancient One" will have the last laugh in the end.

As a great fan of this book, I highly recommend it. It is top-notch reading. I hope that Roger Downey writes the final chapter of the Kennewick Man story, when it finally unfolds. I will be among the first to read it.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A balanced and insightful review of the issues, April 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Riddle of the Bones: Politics, Science, Race, and the Story of Kennewick Man (Hardcover)

Downey's review of the Kennewick Man mess is a refreshingly balanced treatment of the difficult issues involved. Properly, it surveys not just the sins of the past, but the promise of present and future archaeological methods and paradigms. The definitive Kennewick book has not yet been written, but this is a good start.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew bones could be so lively?, April 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Riddle of the Bones: Politics, Science, Race, and the Story of Kennewick Man (Hardcover)

I read this book because I knew Mr. Downey's writing through his work as a critic, journalist and playwright, not because of any special interest in or knowledge of archeology. What a delight to find a book about a totally alien subject that is such a fine and informative read! The same strengths that inform Downey's arts journalism bring what could be an arcane subject to vibrant life. In THE RIDDLE OF THE BONES, he tells a compelling story complete with rich characters, an eye for the offbeat detail, provocative ideas and a plot that is constructed like a thriller. I have no idea what feathers he's ruffled in the apparently insular world of archeology (and the comic opera world of "Asutru"!), but he's written a concise book that is a satisfying and compelling look at "the bones" for the person with little previous knowledge of the subject. If you've wondered about all the fuss over Kennewick Man, this is the book to read.