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Cover Story - Spanish Version

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Early Man in America

Spanish Translation

Two college students found the skull in 1996 along the bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. Later, more bones were found. The bones looked old. Really old. Tests showed that the skeleton, now known as Kennewick Man, is 9,400 years old. Only about 50 skeletons that old or complete have ever been found in the Americas.

Scientists were eager to study the bones. But for about nine years, Indian tribes, the U.S. government and scientists could not agree on what to do with the bones. The Indian tribes wanted them treated with respect and reburied.

Last summer, scientists got to study the bones for 10 days. Now, the results are in.

Secrets of the Bones
Kennewick Man was about 38 years old. He had suffered many injuries, including a spear jab to his hip. "The injury looks healed," Douglas Owsley of the Smithsonian Institution told TIME.

The most surprising discovery: Others had taken the time to bury him. The bones hold many more secrets. Researchers say more tests may even show what the man ate.

The bones may also help solve mysteries about where the earliest Americans came from and when they got here (see map). Did they walk across an ancient land bridge between Russia and Alaska? Could they have traveled down the coast by boat? By studying Kennewick Man and other ancient people, scientists hope to answer such questions.

What's the Scoop?
Should scientists study any bones they want to? Who should decide?

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