A recent DNA probe has suggested that it could clear up a long-running dispute over ancestry and custody. The research, conducted by an international team of scientists, was published Thursday in the journal Nature. However, preliminary results were already reported in January by The Seattle Times.

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Almost two decades ago, an ancient skeleton was found in a river in Washington and a recent DNA study has revealed that it is related to Native Americans. Known as Kennewick Man, the skeleton is about 8,500 years old.

Researchers said the latest study argues earlier suggestions that the ancient skeleton was not connected to modern native people. According to Vancouver Sun, most scientists traced modern native groups to Siberian ancestors who arrived through a land bridge used to extend to Alaska. However, the features of the Kennewick Man's skull, which was within the spectrum of size variations for Native Americans, led the team to suggest its ancestors came from elsewhere.

Since his discovery in 1996, the Kennewick Man, known to the tribes as "the Ancient One," has sparked numerous debates about its origin. Experts have suggested he came from Japanese, Polynesian or even European lineage.

Now, through the use of DNA analysis, scientists have pinned down the origins of the Kennewick Man as Native American. And KPLU has learned that the conclusion was similar to what Washington tribes have been saying since the discovery of the bones.

"Kennewick Man, the Ancient One, is more closely related to contemporary Native Americans than to any other contemporary populations in the world," Eske Willerslev, director of the GeoGenetics Center of the University of Copenhagen, said during a press conference at the Burke Museum in Seattle.

Willerslev added that they turned to DNA analysis to know where the Kennewick Man belongs in the world's family tree. As stated in the research, a DNA was recovered from a hand bone; scientists mapped its genetic code and compared it to modern-day DNA from Native American people and populations worldwide. Thus, giving a clearer insight about the origins of the Kennewick Man.

The Kennewick Man isn't the oldest human remains from North America to have its entire DNA code mapped. While several experts said the latest results are no surprise, they stressed that the Kennewick Man isn't just any fossil.

Meanwhile, ever since two college students found the bones in 1996 on the banks of the Columbia River, near Kennewick, the almost complete skeleton has been the subject of legal battles, NBC News reported.

And following the series of hearings, federal judges sided with the scientists to retain the bones for further study. Now, an intensive probe is done, and the 380 bones and bone fragments are currently locked away, out of public view, at the University of Washington's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle.

The verdict on Kennewick Man's genetic heritage has finally shed some light about the longtime mystery over its ancestry. However, is this case finally closed?

TagsDNA, Native America, Kennewick Man, The Ancient One, Genetics, Science