Aged 8,500-years-old, Kennewick Man is perhaps the most iconic prehistoric skeleton ever found in North America.
Discovered in 1996 naturally eroding out of the bank of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Washington, his remains have been the subject of court battles between American Indians and U.S. paleo-anthropologists.
On the one hand, American Indians claim Kennewick Man as an ancestor and want his remains returned for reburial. On the other, scientists have long wished to study the remains to learn more about the people who colonized North America.
This ancient fossil specimen is rare example of how directly prehistoric people can connect to our lives today.
Following a court ruling, researchers were allowed to study Kennewick Man over the course of 16 days in 2005 and 2006.
Taking years to gather and analyze their research, they published their findings in 2014. Here, Doug Owsley explains what they found.