Notice2023-14074
Notice of Inventory Completion: Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, TX
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 3, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Anderson County, TX.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 126 (Monday, July 3, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 126 (Monday, July 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42742-42743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14074]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036100; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Texas Department of
Transportation, Austin, TX
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Texas Department of Transportation
(TxDOT) has completed an inventory of human remains and associated
funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects
and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from
Anderson County, TX.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after August 2, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Scott Pletka, TxDOT, 6230 East Stassney Lane, Austin, TX
78701, telephone (512) 865-8694, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7f0c1c100b0b510f131a0b141e3f0b071b100b51181009"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="2350404c57570d534f4657484263575b474c570d444c55">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA.
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of TxDOT.
The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in
this notice. Additional information on the determinations in this
notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in the
inventory or related records held by TxDOT.
Description
In August and September of 2021, human remains representing, at
minimum, three individuals were removed from site 41AN162 in Anderson
County, TX, by archeologists working on behalf of TxDOT. A non-funerary
pit feature yielded a lower right canine tooth belonging to an adult
and a deciduous upper left central incisor tooth belonging to a
juvenile. No associated funerary objects are present. An individual
burial yielded one lower premolar, three lower molars, and four upper
molars belonging to a juvenile. The 47 associated funerary objects are
one possible Kiam Incised vessel, three unidentified plainware vessels,
41 incised and grog-tempered ceramic
[[Page 42743]]
sherds, one piece of lithic debitage, and one liter of soil fill.
Cultural Affiliation
The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes,
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the
relationship: anthropological, archeological, biological, geographical,
historical, and expert opinion.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, TxDOT has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 47 objects described in this notice are reasonably
believed to have been placed with or near individual human remains at
the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
<bullet> There is a relationship of shared group identity that can
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary
objects described in this notice and the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation
may be submitted by:
1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice.
2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after August 2, 2023. If
competing requests for repatriation are received, TxDOT must determine
the most appropriate requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for
joint repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
are considered a single request and not competing requests. TxDOT is
responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribe
identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10,
and 10.14.
Dated: June 21, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-14074 Filed 6-30-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on July 3, 2023.
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