A 9,500-year-old skeleton known as Kennewick Man was discovered in southeastern Washington State some 20 years ago, and researchers are now close to finding his identity and origins.

Preliminary results suggest this person is genetically similar to modern Native American people. Genetic analysis is still under way in Denmark.

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The team of researchers performing the DNA analysis believes Kennewick has normal, standard Native American genetics, as stated in an email to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"At present there is no indication he has a different origin than North American Native American," said the email statement.

If that conclusion holds up, it would be a dramatic end to a debate that polarized the field of anthropology and set-off a legal battle between scientists who sought to study the 9,500 year-old skeleton and Northwest tribes that sought to rebury it as an honored ancestor.

"The result from Kennewick is the same one we're getting from the other early individuals. It's what I expected. My feeling is once you get the Kennewick genome, there are going to be people lining up to find out if they're related to him," said Peter Lape, curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was also involved in the care and management of the bones of Kennewick Man.

TagsNative American, Kennewick Man, American ancestor, DNA