Kennewick Man Update: New Details Released About 9,000-Year-Old Remains Found in Washington State

He was an immigrant who journeyed far and wide and was well-tested by the elements before his death. He ate seals and other marine mammals. And his 9,000-year-old story was nearly lost forever.

The prehistoric man is known as "Kennewick Man," and his nearly intact skeleton was discovered 18 years ago in eastern Washington state. He was about 5-foot-7 and weighed around 160 pounds, and he broke six of his ribs — five of which never healed — well before his death, a Washington State University study found.

He was buried "in an extended, prone position, face up, the head slightly higher than the feet, with the chin pressed on the chest, in a grave that was about two and a half feet deep," which kept his bones preserved for millennia, according to the Smithsonian. His remains were found under the water of Lake Wallula, a part of the Columbia River that pooled after the building of the McNary Dam, according to the National Park Service. Erosion from boat traffic was a likely cause of the bones surfacing under different parts of the lake, scientists concluded.

Aside from these revelations, the discovery has brought another key realization to the forefront: Humans arrived in North America far earlier than previously thought.

Details of these findings appear in a new book Kennewick Man: The Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton by Douglas Owlsey, the head of physical anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

"We’re realizing there are people getting here much earlier than we thought, and coming using different modes of transportation," Owsley told Fox News.

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