Notice2023-23288
Notice of Inventory Completion: Cobb Institute of Archaeology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS
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
October 23, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Cobb Institute of Archaeology, Mississippi State University (CIA) 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 Oktibbeha County, MS.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 203 (Monday, October 23, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 203 (Monday, October 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72789-72790]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-23288]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036765; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Cobb Institute of Archaeology,
Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS
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 Cobb Institute of Archaeology,
Mississippi State University (CIA) 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 Oktibbeha County, MS.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after November 22, 2023.
ADDRESSES: Jimmy Hardin, CIA Director; Tony Boudreaux, CIA Curator; and
Shawn Lambert, Assistant Professor and NAGPRA Coordinator, Cobb
Institute of Archaeology, 340 Lee Boulevard, Mississippi State, MS
39762, telephone (662) 325-3826, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#493a257b797d7b09243a3a3d283d2c672c2d3c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="b6c5da84868284f6dbc5c5c2d7c2d398d3d2c3">[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 the
Cobb Institute of Archaeology. 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 the Cobb Institute of Archaeology.
Description
Human remains representing, at minimum, 157 individuals were
removed from Oktibbeha County, MS. Lyon's Bluff (22OK520) is a mound
and village complex located in the Black Prairie region in northeastern
Oktibbeha County, MS. The site was first occupied between A.D. 1100 and
1650. During archeological work in 2021, a second Choctaw occupation,
dating from the late 1700s to circa 1850, was discovered.
In the summers of 1934 and 1935, Moreau Chambers, in association
with
[[Page 72790]]
the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), undertook
the first excavations at Lyon's Bluff. Chambers never formally
documented the field work, and the finds he recovered were thought to
be lost. Recently, human remains belonging to five individuals removed
by Chambers were discovered at MDAH, and in 2022, they were transferred
to the Cobb Institute of Archaeology.
In 1965, Richard Marshall, an archeologist at Mississippi State
University, together with members of the Mississippi Archaeological
Association (MAA) in Oktibbeha County, excavated a midden area in the
northeast areas of the site. In 1967, Marshall and others from
Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi
conducted a joint field school, during which two large blocks were
excavated and the human remains of, at minimum, 67 individuals were
removed and sent to Mississippi State University. Marshall continued to
excavate at Lyon's Bluff throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s,
during which he removed additional burials.
Following Marshall's excavations, Mississippi State University
continued to hold field schools at Lyon's Bluff, in 2001 and 2003. Most
recently, in the summer of 2021, Shawn Lambert, Assistant Professor at
Mississippi State University, in collaboration with the Choctaw, led an
archeological survey and excavation at the site. Their work revealed a
significant historic Choctaw component overlying three pre-European
Contact house mounds.
The 442 associated funerary objects are 75 lots consisting of
ceramics sherds, 56 shell fragments, 143 lots consisting of faunal
remains, 25 pieces of lithic debitage, 10 stone tools, 45 lots
consisting of daub, one worked fossil, eight charcoal samples, seven
soil samples, five bone awls, three pieces of fired clay, two drilled
bear teeth, one charred corn cob, two pieces of limestone, two turtle
shells, one necklace composed of shell beads and bear teeth, four
ceramic ear plugs, one stone, three ground stones, two shell beads,
three charred acorns, one charred seed, 10 pieces of sandstone, 11
worked shells, two greenstone celts, six bone tools, four ceramic
discoidals, two shell gorgets, one fire-cracked rock, one partial stone
palette, one nail, one gorget composed of incised turtle shell, one
stone ear plug, one nutting stone, and one utilized deer antler.
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: archeological, oral traditional, and other information or
expert opinion.
Determinations
Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations, the Cobb Institute of Archaeology has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 157 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 442 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 Jena Band of Choctaw Indians;
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; and The Choctaw 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 November 22, 2023.
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Cobb Institute
of Archaeology 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. The Cobb Institute of Archaeology is responsible
for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes 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: October 11, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-23288 Filed 10-20-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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