Archaeology

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the benefits of archaeology to the scientific and academic communities, as well as its ability to question previous historical paradigms related to the earliest dates of settlement in a given region, or the evolution and migration of early hominids. The paper gives some examples of famous archaeological finds, discussing in particular, the Kennewick Man and the effects that its discovery has had on our previous knowledge of history.

From the Paper:

"The Kennewick Man is one of the most notable finds in recent archaeological history. Discovered in Washington State by casual passers-by in 1996, the Kennewick Man's remains epitomize the controversy over NAGPRA. At first believed to be the remains of a Caucasian male who might have looked "like Patrick Stewart," the Kennewick Man called into question the theory that the first inhabitants of North America were Mongoloid peoples who traversed the Bering Strait (Miller 1997). Since then, the Kennewick Man has also become a political prisoner, in the middle of the battle between repatriation and scientific enquiry."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ferguson, T. J. (1996). Native Americans and the practice of archaeology. Annual Review of Anthropology. 25.
• "Grave Injustice." (2004). Reason. 36(3). July 2004.
• Menon, S. (1997). The people of the bog. Discover. 18. Aug 1997.
• Miller, J.J. (1997). Bones of contention. Reason. 29. Oct. 1997.
• Soave, S. (1997). Native American collections in the age of NAGPRA. Art New England 18(13) Apr/May 1997.

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