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It has been 18 years since two men trying to sneak into the races in Washington stumbled on an ancient skeleton in the shallows of the Columbia River.

With five broken ribs, several dents in his head and a spear lodged deep into his hip, the 9,000 year-old skeleton, dubbed the Kennewick Man, had suffered in a rough world.

Now a book, titled 'Kennewick Man: The Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton', provides the most thorough analysis yet of Kennewick Man's appearance, life and ancestors.

This clay facial reconstruction of Kennewick Man was carefully sculpted around the morphological features of his skull, and lends a deeper understanding of what he may have looked like nearly 9,000 years ago

Its most controversial finding suggests that Kennewick Man has ancestors in common with Polynesians, based on the long, thin shape of his skull.

The origin of Kennewick Man is a key issue as Native American tribes have claimed him as one of their ancestors and have sought to rebury the remains, without further study.

But scientists in the book, which will be published in September, argued that there is no evidence linking any of today's tribes to the skeleton.

The 688-page book also suggests that Kennewick Man was a strong, skilled spear-thrower, living off big-game animals and relying on glacial water meltwater to survive.

With five broken ribs, several dents in his head and a spear lodged deep into his hip, the 9,000 year-old skeleton, dubbed the Kennewick Man, had suffered in a rough world

Called the 'Ancient One' by American Indians, he was 5ft 7 inches tall, weighed 163lbs (74kg) and, despite his injuries, was well-muscled.

His wide-bodied frame helped him navigate the steppe-like habitat of his surroundings along the northwest coast of North America where he hunted and fished.

He likely lived among big-game animals such as deer, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep but primarily consumed fish and marine mammals.

This diet, along with Kennewick Man's reliance on glacial meltwater in rivers, is consistent with the lifestyle of a traveller from the northern part of the continent who made his way down the Pacific coast to Washington State.

His hand, arm and shoulder bones suggest that he was right handed and was adept at flint knapping and throwing spears with an atlatl.

Kennewick Man survived two major injuries during his life, including six broken ribs from blunt-force trauma to the chest and an adversarial encounter with a spear.

A spear point embedded in Kennewick Man's right hip gave researchers the first clue that he belonged to an ancient human population. The spear point likely became lodged following a fight

Kennewick Man was about 40 years old at the time of his death, the cause of which remains a mystery. Dr Doug Owsley (pictured) found no evidence the Kennewick Man was a Native American

The resulting impact from the spear left a stone projectile point permanently lodged in Kennewick Man's pelvis for multiple years during his lifetime.

As well as looking at Kennewick Man's life and appearance, the book sheds light on other ancient and highly unique burials.

There is a chapter about On Your Knees Cave in southeast Alaska where the bear-scavenged remains of a 10,200-year-old young adult male were found, and another featuring Horn Shelter 2 in central Texas, which contained skeletons of a young child and man buried with distinctive cultural items that identify the man as a shaman.

The study of these sites provide a broader context for understanding Kennewick Man's place in the Paleoamerican world, a time period that has produced few well-preserved, nearly complete skeletons.

Professor Owsley and his colleagues plan to continue their study of Kennewick Man in the future to answer remaining questions about his identity.

'The human skeleton teaches us a wealth of information about human population dynamics across time,' said Douglas Owsley at the Smithsonian Institution and co-editor of the book.

'Kennewick Man has become a teacher for all ages, acting as an informative ambassador to the ancient past in North America.'

Scientists have attempted to reconstruct the life of Kennewick Man before, but this book is the first to combine all the research after scientists sued for access to the bones.

Genetic testing on Kennewick Man is currently taking place in Denmark, and the results of that study could help flesh out even more details of this mysterious skeleton.

Forensic anthropologist Kari Bruwelheide arranges Kennewick Man's remains, which revealed that he was tall for his time and used his wide-bodied frame to navigate the Pacific northwest coast as a traveller and hunter

It has been 18 years since two men trying to sneak into the races in Washington stumbled on an ancient skeleton in the shallows of the Columbia River

National Museum of Natural History forensic anthropologists Douglas Owsley and Kari Bruwelheide examine the ancient skeletal remains of Kennewick Man during 16 days of study in 2005 and 2006