|
Douglas W. Owsley, Ph.D. (born July 21, 1951) is the Division Head of Physical Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). He is one of the most prominent and influential archaeologists and forensic anthropologists in the world.〔Butts, Ellen; Joyce Schwartz. "(Doug Owsley: the real Indiana Jones )", ''The Evening Standard'', (London, England), 2004-01-01. Retrieved 2012-04-15.〕 In September 2001, he provided scientific analysis at the military mortuary located at Dover Air Force Base, following the 9/11 attack in Washington D.C. The following year, the US Department of Defense honored him with the Commander's Award for Civilian Service for helping in the identification of 60 federal and civilian victims who died when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. As a forensic anthropologist, Owsley has consulted with individuals, organizations, and government agencies to excavate and reconstruct skeletal remains, identify the deceased, and determine the cause of death.〔Benedict 2003, pages 85–86〕 Notable cases include analysis and identification of Jeffrey Dahmer's first victim; excavation and study of the ''H. L. Hunley'' Confederate submarine in Charleston Harbor; excavation of the historic Jamestown Colony; analysis and identification of 82 victims of the siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas; processing and identification of US servicemen killed during Operation Desert Storm; and research, analysis, and identification of individuals buried in 17th-century iron coffins discovered in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland and an apartment complex in the Columbia Heights area of Washington, D.C.〔Benedict 2003, page ix〕 The research and analysis that Owsley has completed throughout his career has done much more than assess modern human remains. Controversially, he injected himself into the debate over claims of ownership over Kennewick Man a (Paleo-Indian), which he studied and concluded, erroneously, that its bones were not related to present-day Native Americans. He has been involved in the excavation and identification of historic and prehistoric skeletal remains discovered around the world. As part of his work with the Smithsonian, he has overseen the forensic examination of over 13,000 skeletons and human remains originating from over an estimated 10,000 years.〔Chris Wallace. "(Power Player of the Week: Douglas Owsley )" Fox News Sunday (Fox News Network). CQ-Roll Call, Inc. 2005. Retrieved 2012-04-15.〕 The 1996 discovery of skeletal remains found in Kennewick, Washington along the Columbia River, uncovered a prehistoric (Paleo-Indian) man dating back to a calibrated age of 9,800 years, while analysis on the Spirit Cave mummy, established an age of over 10,650 years.〔〔Benedict 2003, page 86〕〔Benedict 2003, page 102〕 In 2003, Owsley's biography, ''No Bone Unturned: Inside the World of a Top Forensic Scientist and His Work on America's Most Notorious Crimes and Disasters'', was published by HarperCollins, which served as the basis of a Discovery Channel documentary, entitled ''Skeleton Clues'', as well as an ABC News ''20/20'' segment entitled ''Murders, Mysteries, History Revealed in Bones''. He was also featured in the film ''Nightmare in Jamestown'', produced by National Geographic.〔 In 2005, Owsley was honored alongside other influential figures in the list of "35 Who Made a Difference", published in the November issue of the ''Smithsonian Magazine''.〔 ==Personal background== Douglas W. Owsley was born on July 21, 1951 in Sheridan, Wyoming.〔 He is the son of William "Bill" and Norma Lou (née Cooke) Owsley. The family lived in the ranching community of Lusk, Wyoming, located in the eastern part of the state, from the Nebraska state border. His father was a game warden with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, while his mother was a painter and stained glass artist.〔Benedict 2003, pages 4–5〕 During his youth, Owsley attended Sunday school classes at the St. George's Episcopal Church of Lusk.〔Benedict 2003, page 292〕 The that made up the Lusk community is surrounded by the eastern extension of the Black Hills National Forest. The nearby forest and foothills cultivated Owsley's interest in nature and science. His summers were spent exploring abandoned mines, rock climbing and bike riding through the foothills, and sleeping outside with his friend, Mike Lyon.〔Benedict 2003, page 2〕 During elementary school, Owsley earned the highest scores in his class. Highly interested in the biology of animals, he grew up viewing wildlife and their carcasses as specimens from which to learn.〔 He often asked questions from his teachers, displaying an "unquenchable curiosity" and desire to learn.〔Benedict 2003, page xi〕 When he was a child, he viewed his first archaeological excavation, when he joined his father on one of his job sites.〔 While his father spent most of his time at work, Owsley participated in scouting, eventually reaching the rank of an Eagle Scout. He was often found searching the surrounding hillside and ended up earning the most scout badges due to his collection of spiders, insects, and leaves.〔Benedict 2003, page 4〕 When he was nine years old, Owsley set up a makeshift chemistry lab in the family basement, using tools and materials that came with a Christmas gift. One day, he began experimenting and combined some of his chemicals with some of his mother's bathroom cleaning solutions and developed an anesthesia. Testing out his new concoction, he discovered that he could cause the native brown-spotted horned toad (or lizard) to fall asleep and become temporarily unconscious. Out of curiosity, he cut open a toad to take a closer look at the internal organs. He recorded everything that happened, noting that the heart continued beating and the lungs continued to draw breath. Afterwards, he carefully closed the wound with supplies from his mother's sewing kit. When the toad continued to show signs of life, apparently unharmed, he released it safely in the backyard pond.〔Benedict 2003, page 5〕 In summer 1962, Owsley and Lyon were exploring an abandoned silver mine, when they discovered the skeletal remains of a large horse. Fascinated, they raced home and returned with their red wagons to gather the bones and take them to their converted chicken coop lab on the Lyon property.〔Benedict 2003, pages 2–6〕 They wanted to reassemble the bones and build the horse's skeleton, similar to the dinosaur skeletons they saw in their school's science films. Once all of the bones were transported to the "lab", they spread the bones out and sorted them by size and shape. Over the summer, without the assistance of textbooks or diagrams, they spent their free time matching various bones that looked like they fit together, much like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. After two months, in the last week of their summer break, the boys finished rebuilding the horse skeleton. Owsley later said, "When we're scientists someday, I'll bet we could be in ''National Geographic''."〔 ;Marriage and family When Owsley was growing up in Lusk, Wyoming, his future wife was living just four blocks away.〔Benedict 2003, page 35〕 They grew up in the same neighborhood and attended the same schools. When Susie celebrated with him at his second grade birthday party, he developed a crush. By the time he was in tenth grade, the attraction was mutual. He told her that he would marry her someday.〔Benedict 2003, page 36〕 Following high school, other priorities took over when Susie went on to nursing school in Denver, Colorado and Owsley enrolled at the University of Wyoming. After they both graduated, they returned to Lusk and married in their neighborhood church. After their wedding, they relocated to the University of Tennessee, where Owsley continued his education and his wife joined the nursing staff of the university.〔 In May 1978, just prior to Owsley receiving his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee, their first daughter, Hilary was born. Their second daughter, Kimberly was born two years later, in September 1980.〔 She lives in the Washington D.C. area, while Hilary lives nearby and works at the Pentagon for the US Navy. On August 22, 2009, Hilary married Colin McDonald at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Middlebury, Vermont. , Owsley and his wife reside in a rural farmhouse on in Jeffersonton, Virginia.〔Benedict 2003, pages xii, 263–264〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Douglas W. Owsley」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|