Rutgers University Art History Department
Distinguished Speaker Series 2013-2014
Dr. David Hurst Thomas
Curator, North American Archaeology-Anthropology
American Museum of Natural History
When a 9,000-year old human skeleton washed out of a Columbia River cutbank in 1996, it ignited a controversy that still rages. Archaeologists proclaimed that “Kennewick Man” was one of the most important finds of the century and planned intensive scientific analysis. Many Native Americans, however, declared that such studies desecrated their ancestor and demanded the bones for reburial. An acrimonious and highly public argument ensued, complete with lawsuit.
In this lecture, archaeologist David Hurst Thomas traces the five-hundred-year roots of the Kennewick Man controversy. Updating his best-selling book Skull Wars, Dr. Thomas discusses Thomas Jefferson’s invention of scientific archaeology and chronicles the brutal massacres in which skulls of Indian warriors were sent east to build America’s greatest museum collections. Thomas details the role of modern science, the lingering elements of racism, and the recent resurgence of Native America, arguing that archaeologists and native people are blazing new collaborative pathways that promise to change the national narrative in remarkable ways.