Thursday, Dec. 07, 2006

Kennewick Man on schedule for 6-month check-up

By Anna King, Herald staff writer

Kennewick Man may have been dead for about 9,000 years, but he still has to suffer through regular checkups with the doc like the rest of us.

But the ancient skeleton shouldn't expect to squeeze in the visit on his lunch break.

The old bones will undergo about three days of methodical study Dec. 11-13 at the Burke Museum in Seattle. Army Corps of Engineers scientists and Burke officials plan to open the large custom-made cases that hold the bones and examine things such as its temperature, humidity and cracks.

"It's tedious," said Jennifer Richman, Portland-based assistant division counsel for the Corps and who has been at some of the procedures. "It's just to assure that the bones are still in good shape."

The biannual procedure has been going on since 1998, when the old bones were moved from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland to the Burke Museum after scientists raised concerns about the skeleton's condition and security in court.

The scientists will open each case and record if all the bones are where they should be and assure that none appears damaged since the last check-up, Richman explained. The scientists try to touch the old bones as little as possible because that's when they could most likely be hurt.

"Generally the remains aren't handled at all," she said. "If something was missing it would be very clear."

Officials also will download information from a small computer that records the temperature and humidity inside Kennewick Man's storage locker for six-month periods, she said.

Changes in temperature and humidity can cause bones to crack or flake. Those conditions vary at the Burke, Richman said, "but what's most important is that there is not a drastic change in temperature or humidity at any one time."

Richman said if the scientists did find a crack or a piece of bone that had flaked off they would most likely try to stabilize its condition and record the change. They have tools like nifty nonadhesive tape that doesn't damage bone but gives it extra support, she said.

In the past, Kennewick Man has had other visitors attend his check-ups. In June, several Mid-Columbia tribal members prayed over the bones.

However, no visits from either the scientists who fought to study Kennewick Man or the Mid-Columbia tribes who want to bury him are scheduled for the December procedure, Richman said.

If everything checks out OK, Kennewick Man can expect six more months of undisturbed rest until his next appointment.