DNA preserved in Kennewick Man’s hands for over 8,500 years reveals who he was
As well as being the most iconic of all ancient American human skeletons—for the past three decades Kennewick Man has also been the most controversial.
After his remains were discovered in 1996, initial analyses led scientists to suggest Kennewick Man’s physical appearance was at odds with that of modern, present day Native Americans.
Instead, it was thought the size and shape of his 8,500-year-old skull most closely resembled that of modern day Polynesians.
Kennewick Man’s identity, place of origin, and role in the peopling of America were a puzzle in need of a solution.
Then in 2014, following a lengthy legal battle for the right to study him, scientists published a far more detailed report about Kennewick Man having searched every inch of his remains for clues.
Once again, all the available evidence suggested Kennewick Man was anatomically distant to present day Native Americans. His features suggested a Polynesian, Japanese or even European connection.
But in June 2015 a team led by Danish scientist Eske Willerslev looked for and found evidence of the kind that had so far been unavailable: DNA.
Willerslev worked closely with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington State and, in a first, was able to collect samples of their DNA to see if it might match to that Kennewick Man.
Like the invention of radio-carbon dating, and 3D craniometrics, the ability to find, extract and sequence DNA from ancient fossils is beginning to transform the study of human origins.
When the DNA answers came, the results were clear and unambiguous: Kennewick Man’s DNA matched closer to the Colville DNA than to any other from across the world, including DNA from Europeans, Polynesians, East Asians and South Americans.
In fact, according to the genetics, the DNA of Kennewick Man and the Colville tribes is so alike they may have diverged from a shared ancestor 9200 years ago—700 years before Kennewick Man was born.