The physical samples to which those tools could be applied are, at least for Buckeye Knoll, no longer accessible.

This is one of the specific costs of the current framework for managing ancient Native American remains.

It is a cost that some find acceptable — because the principles behind repatriation are important and worth the scientific sacrifice — and some find unacceptable, because the information lost is irreplaceable.

The argument will continue, and its resolution, if it comes, will depend on the development of frameworks that find ways to honor both the scientific value of these ancient populations and the legitimate claims of Indigenous peoples to determine the fate of their ancestors.

The caves and sinkholes of the Texas limestone country are still out there.