Review: "Department of Interior Approach to Documentation, Analysis, Interpretation, and Disposition of Human Remains Inadvertently Discovered at Columbia Park, Kennewick, WA" (Draft Document of 20 October 1998)

The draft DOI document reviewed here provides an overview of (1) the context for discovery, plan of study, and disposition of a set of human remains found at Columbia Park, Kennewick, WA; (2) consultation with Indian tribes; (3) nondestructive procedures for study; (4) procedures for other tests, including destructive analyses, and (5) investigations for determining cultural affiliation if the analysis indicates that the remains are of Native American ancestry, as defined by NAGPRA. The following review is limited to three areas presented in the document: (1) the general approaches and procedures, especially as to whether or not these approaches and procedures are (a) logical, (b) scientifically sound, (c) likely to produce the kind of information needed to make interpretations, and (d) based on the proposed analysis, whether or not they will help determine that the remains are Native American; (2) comments on the specific analyses, measurements, procedures, and tests; and (3) recommendation of a list of experts qualified to undertake the examination, recording, and analysis presented in the document.