Type: Essay
Subject: Anthropology
Subject area: All Subjects
Education Level: College
Length: 2 pages
Referencing style: MLA
Preferred English: US English
Spacing Option: Double
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Analysis of the article “Special Report: A Battle over Bones”
This article looks at the aspect of archeology which is part of anthropology, in this regard the article, “Special Report: A battle over Bones” that provides the perception that human remains are being studies for which archeology is also best suited (Slayman). In reference to the article, the author informs that the remains are will also be used for radio carbon dating including a DNA analysis. Based on the article it is also evident that forensic anthropology is also another part where the article will be categorized. It is evident that the article looks at the issue of forensic anthropology where scientists look to understand the biology of an ancient humanity where the article also looks at the issue of anthropology and physical anthropology.
In respect to the lecture, semantics looks at the ‘study of meaning of words, sayings, and or symbols’ (Slayman). In respect to the article, scientists are interested in the bones since it is going to help them understand what makes human revolution. This study however, also encounters a number of challenges that include the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) that claim the remains rightfully belong to them thus may not allow for excavation of study to be conducted without their consent. NAGPRA is actually a 1990 law that provided for the repatriation to the tribes of ceremonial, Indian skeletons and mortuary artifacts. Another view is the physical anthropologist Douglas W. Owsley from Smithsonian Institution and Richard L. Jantz of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville who is also studying ancient populations who informed that “if a pattern of returning [such] remains without study develops, the loss to science will be incalculable and we will never have the data required to understand the earliest populations in America” (Slayman).
The debate was so sensitive in regard to the NAGPRA laws, where eight scientists filed a lawsuit where they felt that semantics over restrictions from Native American resistance where it was also felt that corps of engineers determined the remains that were culturally affiliated to the various tribes without having provided the required evidence. The NAGPRA regulations also state that “Evidence of…cultural affiliation…must be established using…geographical, kinship, biological, archeological, anthropological, linguistic, folklore, oral tradition, historical, or other relevant information or expert opinion” (Slayman).
It is however important to ensure that the corps also Liase with the NAGPRA in identifying its discovery within the Umatilla’s aboriginal territory. This is what is argued by the scientists advocates who informs that ‘antiquity dictates nothing regarding ancestry’ though is required when it comes to forensic anthropology. Some of the results carried out on the bones reveals some doubt as of which skeleton is related to modern Indian tribes (Slayman). Native Americans should be related to the people culture as being the indigenous groups in the United States, meaning that when the skeleton is not related to the modern indigenous group, then it should not be counted as being within the NAGPRA natives (Slayman). One of the things that comes clear from the article is to raise concerns regarding what happens to remain when the laws are put in place that also indicates on how one should proceed. Among the interesting aspect of this study is that the defences presented by the lawyers would be used to allow scientists in accessing remains for further study, despite the fact that this could be viewed as a violation of the civil rights act of 1866 against the natives.
Works Cited
Slayman, A. “Special report: A battle over bones.” Archaeology Magazine Archive – Back Issues, 1997, archive.archaeology.org/9701/etc/specialreport.html.