Notice2023-17789
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
August 18, 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 159 (Friday, August 18, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 159 (Friday, August 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56657-56658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17789]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036386; 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 September 18, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Scott Pletka, TxDOT, 6230 East Stassney Lane, Austin, TX
78701, telephone (512) 865-8694, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#3c4f5f534848124c505948575d7c4844585348125b534a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="97e4f4f8e3e3b9e7fbf2e3fcf6d7e3eff3f8e3b9f0f8e1">[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 2015 and 2016, archeologists working on behalf of TxDOT removed
human remains and associated funerary objects from 32 burials at the A.
S. Mann site (41AN201) in Anderson County, Texas. The burials contained
fragmentary physical remains belonging to 12 juveniles, six adult
males, four adult females, and 12 adults of indeterminate sex. The
1,125 associated funerary objects include one antler fragment, 194
arrow points or arrow point fragments (including four Bassett points,
three untyped arrow point fragments, one Harrell point, 165 Perdiz
points, seven Perdiz Side-notched points, three Triangular points, 10
Turney points, and one Washita point), three pieces of bentonite, one
beveled edge tool, nine bifaces, 22 bottles (including eight Hume
Engraved, one Hume-Poynor Engraved, one Killough Pinched, one Mann
Punctated, 10 Poynor Engraved, and one untyped plain ware), 14 bowls
(including two Hood Engraved, one Mann Punctated, one Patton Engraved,
three Poynor Engraved, one untyped fine ware, two untyped plain ware,
and four untyped utility ware), 101 carinated bowls (including six
Patton Engraved, three Poynor Brushed, 87 Poynor Engraved, one Taylor
Engraved, two untyped plain ware, and two untyped specimens), two
celts, 11 pieces of charcoal, one piece of red clay, 17 pieces of
lithic debitage, 12 Hood Engraved effigy bowls, one end scraper, one
end-side scraper, two heavy fraction flotation samples from burial
fill, three pieces of hematite, 35 jars (including nine Bullard
Brushed, 11 Killough Pinched, six Mann Punctated, one Maydelle Incised,
two Patton Engraved, three Poynor Engraved, one untyped plain ware, and
two untyped utility ware), one piece of lead, two light fraction
flotation samples from burial fill, one marine shell conch columella,
four pebbles (including three polished and one unmodified), 10 elbow
pipes or elbow pipe fragments (including five untyped, one untyped rim
sherd, and four Neches), one untyped utility ware rattle bowl, two
unidentified rodent bones, 385 pottery sherds (including 42 Bullard
Brushed, 168 decorated, 40 plain, 38 Poynor Engraved, 15 untyped
specimen, and 82 untyped utility ware), one silver box with Spanish
insignia, 68 samples of burial fill, one ferruginous sandstone tool
fragment, one turquoise pendant, one unidentified botanical remain, one
unidentified faunal bone, one piece of unidentified metal, two pieces
of unidentified minerals, one piece of unidentified pottery, and 212
samples of fill from within the vessels.
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 34 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 1,125 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 September 18, 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.
[[Page 56658]]
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: August 9, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-17789 Filed 8-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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