The four groups of geographic variation are based on an amalgam of studies, almost entirely on modern populations, because there have been so few early skeletons recovered. In the North American continent, scientists have only encountered about 25 individuals from Paleo-Indian sites (at least 8000 years old), and only five of them were found with skulls intact enough to be usefully studied. The variety among those five is quite wide. The simple fact is we do not have a good idea of what the "racial" characteristics were of humans from 10,000 years ago. Indeed there is increasing evidence, including the Kennewick Man himself, that the so-called founder populations from several areas in the world may have had different characteristics from their descendants. It is certain that much of the variation that we use to identify Native Americans developed after the migration to the American continent--and that many of the characteristics found in Asians today developed after that point as well. We don't really know when that might have occurred--either the migration or the development of characteristics. I'll provide some data on what archaeologists understand about the migration into the American continent in another article.
Jean Luc and the Kennewick Man
3. But wait a minute! I've seen the facial reconstruction of the Kennewick Man. He looks just like Jean Luc Picard!Facial reconstruction from skulls is notoriously difficult to get right. The process involves using modern measurements of body fat and muscle weight, and a guess as to soft tissue form of lip, nose, and eyes. Used primarily in identifying murder victims, facial reconstructions are only successful about 50 percent of the time. The process is time consuming, and to do it at all, you must have some preconceptions of what you believe the face will look like before you start--in other words, to make decisions about relative depth of body fat and muscle, you must decide to which group the skeleton belongs. There are computer programs in the works that might resolve some of these issues, but for the moment, the results are untrustworthy at best. There have been serious objections to most of the facial reconstructions used on prehistoric individuals.
The bottom line is, there simply are not enough data to make an estimation. Indeed, the first intensive study of the Kennewick Man was made only October 30, 1998, by Douglas Owsley of the Smithsonian Institution; but even that was limited. Genetic studies may assist in the closer identification of the Kennewick Man's affiliation; but bear this in mind: Kennewick Man's appearance does not rule out his being part of one of the founding populations of the peoples of the American continent.
Kennewick Man Series: Table of Contents
- Part 1: Background and Introduction
- Part 2: What is a "Caucasoid"?
- Part 3: Is the Kennewick Man "Caucasoid"?
- Part 4: How Were the American Continents Populated?
- Part 5: Who was "Pre-Clovis"?
- Part 6: How NAGPRA Affects Kennewick Man
- Part 7: Science, Religion, and Politics
- Part 8: The Jelderks Decision
- Part 9: Latest News
- Bibliographies and Websites for Further Information
