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Gordon Creek Woman Meets Spirit Cave Man: A Response to Comment by Owsley and Jantz

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Alan Swedlund
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, and Research Associate, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, PO Box 2087, Santa Fe, NM 87504
Duane Anderson
Affiliation:
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, PO Box 2087, Santa Fe, NM 87504

Abstract

Owsley and Jantz (2001) allege that we (Swedlund and Anderson 1999) misunderstand and misrepresent the events surrounding the controversy over Kennewick Man, and that we misconstrue statements they have made regarding Spirit Cave Man. They then move to their own analysis of Gordon Creek Woman to demonstrate the value of their morphometric techniques in addressing questions of biological affinity. In this reply we clarify and amplify our position on the key issues on which they challenge us, and we evaluate their morphometric analysis of Gordon Creek Woman. To our previous call for bioarchaeologists to more explicitly acknowledge the political environment in which questions of biological affinity currently arise, we add our concern that the methodologies used have their own set of problems and limitations.

Résumé

Résumé

Owsley y Jantz (2001a) alegan que nosotros (Swedlund y Anderson 1999) no entendemos ni representamos los sucesos alrededor de la controversia sobre el Kennewick Man. También, alegan que no interpretamos bien sus declaraciones con respecto a Spirit Cave Man. Después, ellos llevaron a cabo un análisis de Gordon Creek Woman para demostrar el mérito de sus técnicas morfomé tricas en relación a preguntas de afinidad biológica. En esta respuesta aclaramos y ampliamos nuesta posiciòn con respecto a los temas importantes en que ellos nos desafían, y evaluamos su análisis morfométrico de Gordon Creek Woman. A nuestra llamada previa en el sentido de que los bioarqueólogos reconozcan mas explícitamente el ambiente político en que las preguntas de afinidad biológica provienen, añadimos nuestra preocupación de que los métodos utilizados tienen sus propios problemas y limitaciones.

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Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2003

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