The Forgotten Remains and the Found Story

For some years after its discovery, Shuká Káa’s remains were primarily a subject of scientific analysis — of radiocarbon dating, isotopic analysis, physical anthropological study.

The initial publications established the age and the basic biological facts.

The isotopic evidence established the marine diet.

The physical analysis provided what it could about the man himself.

The deeper story — the story that the DNA analysis would eventually tell about the population history of the coast — had to wait for both the scientific methods to mature and for the research to be conducted.

When the ancient-DNA analysis was applied to the remains and the results placed in the context of the broader genomic evidence from Northwest Coast peoples, the narrative changed from the story of an ancient individual to the story of a founding population — from the story of one man to the story of 10,000 years.