BONES OF CONTENTION

The deceased appeared to be a male Caucasian--that seemed clear from the long, narrow skull and prominent nose. He'd been dead for decades, at least, and probably longer. James Chatters, an anthropologist based in Kennewick, Washington, could tell that much from just a quick examination of the cranium and broken jawbone the coroner brought him last July. But Chatters wanted to know more. So he went to the banks of the Columbia River, where two college students had come across the skull, and managed to find most of the skeleton. The arm and leg bones suggested that the dead man came...