Rating: 
Summary: Excellent account of an important anthropological discovery
Review: A first-rate, well-written work. Essentially, the book is divided into two parts: The first deals with the discovery of Kennewick Man's bones along a riverbank, and the subsequent combination of controversy, government ineptitude, and racial politics that prevented proper study of one of the most important anthropological finds of recent memory. Chatters relates his limited time with the bones of the ancient man in a lively manner, explaining various terms and theories in an easy to understand way. Most interesting is the morass of legality and accusations of racism that prevented Chatters and others from giving the skeleton the attention it deserved (despite the fact that Chatters had worked dilligently in the past to help reclaim and identify Native remains, so that they could be returned to the proper tribes). Under the guise of NAGPRA (which--when it works--allows Native Americans to rightfully reclaim skeletons and artifacts taken from Native American graves and sacred sites), local Native American tribes claimed the skeleton as an ancestor, despite mounting evidence that not only was he not a descendant of any of the local tribes, but was more akin to Polynesian/Aboriginal peoples, with traces of European ancestry. Undeterred by the evidence, and backed by gutless government bureaucrats, the tribes scored a victory and Kennewick Man may be forever lost to those who wished to study and learn from his remains. Still, Chatters and others were able to glean a fair amount of information from their limited time with the skeleton; the second half of the book deals principally with what they learned and how this discovery, coupled with emerging evidence from other sites, is changing what we know about the peopling of the Americas. Chatters devotes much of the second half to theory and speculation; it's interesting, but not as exciting as the whirlwind of events surrounding the initial discovery. Still, it rekindled my interest in anthropology and ancient America; people who like this may also enjoy "Iceman" by Brenda Fowler, and "The Settlement of the Americas" by UK professor Tom Dillehay. Excellent work.
Rating:
Summary: The definitive account of Kennewick Man
Review: I read Dr. Chatters' book in one sitting, and highly recommend it to ALL readers interested in the earliest peoples of the Americas. As the first scientist (& one of the few) to observe the Kennewick skeleton, and having been directly involved in the controversy which has swirled around the remains, this is clearly a very personal account for Chatters. It really comes across that he'd probably NOT have chosen to be embroiled in this sort of issue; but he is uncompromising in his conclusion: the bones are NOT those of an individual we call "American Indian".
The history of the find and ensuing battles between scientists, native groups, and the government is riveting (and unpromising to the future of archaeology in this country). Chatters also goes the extra mile and compares his find to all the other known ancient American skeletal remains, which gives this book a general picture of the state of "early Americans" studies which ensures that I will use this book as a text for my upcoming course on the subject.
A couple of minor things keeps this book from being "perfect", in my opinion. First, since he trusts us to follow the "Caucasoid-but-not-Caucasian" osteological discussion, it could have been enhanced by some simple diagram of the 3 major modern skull "ethnic" groups, showing major points where early Americans do and DO NOT resemble these types. Second, although there were ample references in the endnotes, a few assertions were tossed off and never referenced (The one that bothered me most: mention of a biface-and-blade stone tool technology in Japan that is a putative ancestor to Clovis technology in the Americas. As a stone tool specialist, I know of no such technology which is acclaimed as similar to Clovis, and an extensive search-in lieu of any original reference Chatters might have supplied-turned up nothing new.)
However, general readers will not be bothered by these tiny esoteric omissions. It is the definitive account of Kennewick Man, and was told in an exciting fashion that puts most fictional mysteries to shame. Bravo, Dr. Chatters.
Rating: 
Summary: Science and reason vs long held tradition
Review: I read Dr. Chatters' book in one sitting, and highly recommend it to ALL readers interested in the earliest peoples of the Americas. As the first scientist (& one of the few) to observe the Kennewick skeleton, and having been directly involved in the controversy which has swirled around the remains, this is clearly a very personal account for Chatters. It really comes across that he'd probably NOT have chosen to be embroiled in this sort of issue; but he is uncompromising in his conclusion: the bones are NOT those of an individual we call "American Indian".
The history of the find and ensuing battles between scientists, native groups, and the government is riveting (and unpromising to the future of archaeology in this country). Chatters also goes the extra mile and compares his find to all the other known ancient American skeletal remains, which gives this book a general picture of the state of "early Americans" studies which ensures that I will use this book as a text for my upcoming course on the subject.
A couple of minor things keeps this book from being "perfect", in my opinion. First, since he trusts us to follow the "Caucasoid-but-not-Caucasian" osteological discussion, it could have been enhanced by some simple diagram of the 3 major modern skull "ethnic" groups, showing major points where early Americans do and DO NOT resemble these types. Second, although there were ample references in the endnotes, a few assertions were tossed off and never referenced (The one that bothered me most: mention of a biface-and-blade stone tool technology in Japan that is a putative ancestor to Clovis technology in the Americas. As a stone tool specialist, I know of no such technology which is acclaimed as similar to Clovis, and an extensive search-in lieu of any original reference Chatters might have supplied-turned up nothing new.)
However, general readers will not be bothered by these tiny esoteric omissions. It is the definitive account of Kennewick Man, and was told in an exciting fashion that puts most fictional mysteries to shame. Bravo, Dr. Chatters.
Rating: 
Summary: Battling the Government for fossils
Review: In "Ancient Encounters", author James Chatters narrates a tale of a fossilized skeleton accidentally discovered by two young boys playing by a riverbed in Kennewick, Washington. The early chapters of the book describe the discovery of the fossilized skeleton, named Kennewick man, and the dating of the remains to almost 9,500 years ago. The author has custody of the remains for study but local Native Americans and seemingly corrupt workers of the Army Corps of Engineers act quickly to attempt to get the remains for "repatriation" according to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), an act that seemingly ignores the possibility that a fossil so old may not even have been ancestral to Native Americans. The author scrambles to preserve the fossils for scientific study and enlists the assistance of numerous political and scientific contacts. The Smithsonian Institution eventually asserts domain over the fossils and agrees to arrange for the author to bring the fossils to Washington, DC. The author feels that the timing of the Smithsonian's arrangements is going to jeopardize his custody of the fossils, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. At this point the reader feels like shaking the author and telling him to put the darn fossils in his trunk and drive to Washington, DC. Alas, the fossils are lost to the legal system, where it seems it will take another 9,500 years to resolve the issue.
In the latter chapters of the book the author describes various other fossil finds and theories about the identity of the Paleo-Americans, and theories about how they arrived on this continent. It is this latter section of the book that is at times disjointed and poorly written. It is difficult to discern fact from postulate. A condensed tighter version would have been less painful to read. The subject of Paleo-Americans is interesting and the book does offer some insights into current theories and scientific methods. However, I personally find it a bit curious that brilliant scientists waste so much time and energy attempting to unearth peoples of the past, then leave it to the politicians to figure out how to feed their overpopulated descendants.
Rating:
Summary: Battling the Government for fossils
Review: In "Ancient Encounters", author James Chatters narrates a tale of a fossilized skeleton accidentally discovered by two young boys playing by a riverbed in Kennewick, Washington. The early chapters of the book describe the discovery of the fossilized skeleton, named Kennewick man, and the dating of the remains to almost 9,500 years ago. The author has custody of the remains for study but local Native Americans and seemingly corrupt workers of the Army Corps of Engineers act quickly to attempt to get the remains for "repatriation" according to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), an act that seemingly ignores the possibility that a fossil so old may not even have been ancestral to Native Americans. The author scrambles to preserve the fossils for scientific study and enlists the assistance of numerous political and scientific contacts. The Smithsonian Institution eventually asserts domain over the fossils and agrees to arrange for the author to bring the fossils to Washington, DC. The author feels that the timing of the Smithsonian's arrangements is going to jeopardize his custody of the fossils, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. At this point the reader feels like shaking the author and telling him to put the darn fossils in his trunk and drive to Washington, DC. Alas, the fossils are lost to the legal system, where it seems it will take another 9,500 years to resolve the issue.
In the latter chapters of the book the author describes various other fossil finds and theories about the identity of the Paleo-Americans, and theories about how they arrived on this continent. It is this latter section of the book that is at times disjointed and poorly written. It is difficult to discern fact from postulate. A condensed tighter version would have been less painful to read. The subject of Paleo-Americans is interesting and the book does offer some insights into current theories and scientific methods. However, I personally find it a bit curious that brilliant scientists waste so much time and energy attempting to unearth peoples of the past, then leave it to the politicians to figure out how to feed their overpopulated descendants.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting and well written
Review: James Chatters is a professional forensic anthropologist, paleoecologist, and archeologist working in Washington state. As such he became involved in the recent finding of the so-called Kennewick Man and the political furor over the disposition of the remains. The book is an in-depth discussion of almost every aspect of the discovery: the initial find, the socio-political conflict over it, the brief analysis of the remains, and the overall enlightment that it casts on human migrations.For Native American activists the issue was one of yet another example of dispossession of by those of European descent, this time in the name of science. For "science" here read the "manifest destiny" of the 19th century proponents of the westward expansion that led to a systematic, almost Hitleresque genocide of the indigenous inhabitants of the continent. The active political voices of the Native American activists since the 1960s had led to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) in the 1990s, and the discovery of the skeletal remains of an early American eroded from a river bank in 1996 put the laws to a critical test, one that is still yet to be settled. For the scientists the issue was of information irretrievably lost to the store of human knowledge about the past. For this issue read "truth" forever vanquished by the "superstition" of the dark side. Certainly in a time when the validity of science education is challenged by every Tom, Dick and Harry with an opinion, when the average person is unable to think critically, when the media are rife with occult nonsense, and when "reality" TV occupies whole evenings of family time one can hardly blame them for suspecting as much! For myself, I find the research into the human past to be an intriguing pursuit. I read Dr. Chatter's book in about a day, hanging on every word. I have to admit, though, that most of my friends and co-workers consider me an eccentric, so I know for a fact that not every one holds my high opinion of this field of endeavor. I can therefore see why Native American people, given their history with their European neighbors, might consider the analysis of the Kennewick remains as a dangerous effort to once again dispossess them, this time of what they consider to be their history and right of priority in the land. The book brings into sharp relief that the confrontation was due to two groups of people each approaching the world with their own view and lacking understanding of the perspective of the other. It also points out, just as the brewhaha over the Ice Man in Europe did, just how much a part politics, ego, and media involvement has to do with disputes of this sort. One can only hope that in the future, scientists and Native American groups can work together with greater accord. Certainly what was discovered about the Kennewick man gave me more respect for the closeness of the global human population and for the successful adaptation of the early American people to a difficult set of circumstances. One of the most interesting things I found from the discussion of the remains of the Kennewick specimen is that the human populations living today are more like one another than they are like their distant predecessors. In short, human evolution, at least on a superficial level, is on-going. Our decedents several thousand years hence will also be different. This was a riveting and well written book.
Rating:
Summary: Who Were the First Americans?
Review: The story of the fight over Kennewick Man begins in 1996, with the discovery of a mystery skeleton in the mud of the Columbia River, near Kennewick, Washington, and, by its end, tells us more about our own strange modern world than it does about the K-man's long lost one.
Chatters recounts the struggle over K-man's remains in fascinating detail. His is a nonfiction work that also provides some of the satisfactions of a mystery and a thriller (so might want to jump over parts of this), as well as an absurdist tragicomedy. The last, thanks mostly to a US Army Corps of Engineers that exhibits all the serious scientific integrity and commitment to due process one might expect if a mad political scientist had managed to join Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks to the Spanish Inquisition.
Chatters' first reaction is that the skeleton belongs to some early colonial-era white pioneer; however, upon closer inspection, the remains prove to be much older. The initial examination is barely complete when the federal government, having jurisdiction over the excavation site, begins to seize K-man's remains to turn them over to local Indians.
The government declares that it is carrying out the provisions of the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a law, according to Chatters, which is "being used by the Indian tribes to reclaim all ancient human skeletons, regardless of their age and often with little or no opportunity allowed for scientific investigation."
As the government begins to close in on K-man, Chatters hurriedly consults another anthropologist, a highly respected forensic competitor, in order to obtain an unbiased second opinion: `Male Caucasian,' she said. `You sure?' I asked. `Easy call,' was the firm response. `The face?' I probed. `White guy.' `Mandible?' `White guy.' ..."
On the day that lawmen were on their way, Chatters carefully arranges, describes and videotapes the bones, in hopes of saving as much scientific information as possible before K-man's ancient story would be boxed up, carried off, and forever buried in a secret location. Chatters stresses the gravity of the archaeological find, being only one of two complete early skeletons from the entire continent.
Chatters' emergency videotaping proves wise, since the government's level of stewardship turns out to be something less than Smithsonian. People, mostly Indians, pay visits to the remains, now kept in an unpadded box, after which some bones are found damaged, others destroyed, others go missing. The invaluable remains are also adulterated with newly introduced bones and various ceremonial materials. And, to obtain radiocarbon samples, the government employs a rotary saw on K-man's leg and foot bones with a feathery lightness of touch that might be more appropriate for hydroelectric damn demolition.
Fortunately, thanks to Chatters and allies, the courts begin holding hearings. But this doesn't stop the Interior Department from plunging ahead, making the determination that, yes, these completely non-Indian-looking bones most certainly must be surrendered to the Indians. On what evidence? Apparently, says Chatters: "geography" and "folklore."
Finally, incredibly, the Corps goes to the fragile archaeological site and dumps upon it 500 tons of rockfill. What possible explanation could they provide? `Protection.' (Bureaucratic Freudian Slip of the Year Award?)
Historically, what finally happened to these Paleo-Americans? Sketchy evidence points to a fertility rate that was only slightly above replacement, which would have made them "extremely vulnerable" to higher-fertility competing groups. (Hmmm, why does this sound familiar?)
This book provides a wonderful case study of a society--o harmonious Mecca of joyous "diversity"--that has become mired in a system of officially enforced racial victimhood, here, Indian division. Scientifically questioning any aspect of it is taboo, although the results can be pretty darn entertaining.
When the press latches onto Chatters' initial comment, that after surveying many faces he found K-man's face to most resemble that of "Star Trek" actor Patrick Stewart, Chatters goes out of his way to tamp down the resulting furor by disabusing anyone of the unscientific notion that K-man could possibly be considered `white.' (Long story short: K-man may predate modern races and represent only one of several waves of earliest migrations from hither and yon.) But after Chatters' sculptor friend, to create a K-man bust, pours over countless worldwide photographs, he finally finds "especially useful a movie that featured Clint Eastwood and Ed Harris ... the same narrow chins, square jaws and hollow cheeks of Kennewick Man."
Okay, think I got it: Cross between actors Patrick Stewart, Clint Eastwood and Ed Harris--but NOT WHITE!
The important thing, of course, is determining the scientific facts. Obviously, European Americans don't need to play a game of Who Got Here First? to know that America is their home, but it is amusing to see how threatened the media and others become when some whites express any racial affinity with Kennewick Man. Of course white people are the only group for whom any expression of ancestral or group pride is automatically considered "hate," "supremacy," or a sure sign that they are feverishly plotting world domination.
The truth about Paleo-Americans will be of special interest to some of European heritage, you know, those who "took the land away from the Indians." Obviously, what happened to the Indians, and whomever they replaced, was tragic, but this piously expressed refrain from liberals would be much more believable if I could find just one who is planning to return his property to the Indians and move back to Europe.
Under a growing barrage of criticism for decades, European Americans can be forgiven if they want to feel some measure of group pride. Pride, not just for possibly sharing some closer kinship with these ancient pioneers, but for the fact that the very concept of bold and unfettered scientific inquiry--in Chatters' case, standing up to legally enforce mythology and bumbling bureaucratic tyranny--is in itself an invention of Europeans.
In short: Fine book, outstanding scientist, brave man.
Rating:
Summary: Ancient Encounters
Review: This book reads like a mystery novel; I couldn't put it down. James Chatters does an excellent job of bringing the Kennewick Man (and others) to life. It's a great read for anyone interested in the peopling of the Americas.
Rating:
Summary: fair and balanced
Review: This is one of the best books I've read. ever. Chatters not only shares his own theories, but he also gives the reader a complete picture of what theories are out there regarding the first Americans. When he recounts the details of the Kennewick man hearings, he doesn't slander those on the other side of the debate, but rather tries to give the reader the best view of what occured, though you can tell that the destructive actions of the corps sadden him. This is one of the easiest and most interesting reads. From the introduction where he theorizes about Kennewick man's death in story format, to the lawsuit over his remains, to the very detailed and great information about the morphology of the skull, and how it is similar to each group that is existent now and how it differs. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in archaeology.
Rating:
Summary: Science as religion
Review: This review is not going to win friends among the "uber-scientists" out there, but it remains true nevertheless that significant numbers of archaeologists oppose the attempts of James Chatters and his collaborators to reassert the hegemony of certain kinds of anthropological knowledge over the knowledge claims and understandings of Native people and progressive social scientists. Much of the controversy over Kennewick Man revolves around the question of whether he was "really" Native or not. As is noted in the book, a group of Norse revivalists also claim Kennewick Man as a long-lost Caucasian brother who indicates that "white" people were really in the US before or at the same time as "mongoloid" Native Americans, thus depriving Native Americans of their status as indigenous people. To be fair, Chatters has attempted to distance himself from people like that, but it has to be noted that most of his arguments only hold water if you believe that modern racial categories had some sort of importance at 9500 BC. This is a pretty big stretch in my book. Biological anthropologists as diverse as Jonathan Marks, Alan Goodman and Leonard Lieberman have noted that Chatters' discussion of Kennewick Man as "Caucasoid" places the emphasis (disingenously or not) on racial identity. Physical anthorpological studies of Native skeletal populations (arguably the product of a racialized world view themselves) indicate a wide variety of morphologies that can be "identified" as Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid and so on. These distinctions were descriptions of physical attributes, then associated with particular populations. In theory, they were not racial indicators (although some people certainly used them that way). To say that Kennewick Man is not "Native" because he is "caucasoid" assumes that only certain racial "types" can be "real" Native Americans. Here, I have to note that there is a very long history of racially diverse groups of people who were adopted into tribes without any real concerns on the part of Native Peoples. In some cases, (most notably during the French and Indian Wars), Euro-American captives often opted to remain with their native captors than return to "civilization" even when given the option. Unlike the Europeans of the time, race was not a barrier to identity for natives. Concerns about race are a relatively recent consequence of the development and use of the concept of racial hierarchy as a political tool in these United States. Race was not a useful category for discussing the cultural affiliation of an individual as Native American before the introduction of racial blood quanta by the Federal government and by early 19th century Native elites who wanted to adopt the slavery-based social systems of white power brokers. Chatters believes that science is neutral. He uses this belief in much the same way that spouse abusers believe that they are not to blame for beating their partners. By ignoring the social and political context in which he operates, Chatters (along with the radical human socio-biologists and ethnic supremacists) can paint himself as the innocent victim of anti-science natives and PC cowards. To all of them I would simply say this: Einstein recognized the destructive power of science when applied without a moral compass. The Union of Concerned Scientists lobbies consistently against situations where science is used immorally. This is not to say that we should become completely ruled by religious authorities anymore than we should be ruled by the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. But there is such a thing as willful blindness and Chatters embraces it wholeheartedly. If you want a better-contexutalized book, read David Hurst Thomas's book "Skull Wars".
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