Determining the provenience of Kennewick Man skeletal remains through sedimentological analyses

We present the results of a sedimentological study of a 9300 calendar yr old disarticulated skeleton known as Kennewick Man. Micromorphological, granulometric, mineralogical, and chemical analyses were performed on sediments from the skeleton and streambank adjacent to where the bones were found. Our results support earlier estimates that the skeleton eroded out from an 80 cm section of Columbia River flood deposits. Fine-textured sediments from the burial site attached to the bones indicate a low energy, fluvial depositional environment. Given the taphonomic evidence that Kennewick Man was rapidly buried, we believe that the stratigraphic and sedimentological evidence support the hypothesis that the body was interred by humans in the ground rather than being quickly buried by overbank flooding