Notice2024-22885
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Alabama Museums, Tuscaloosa, AL
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 4, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Alabama Museums 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.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 193 (Friday, October 4, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 193 (Friday, October 4, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80921-80923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22885]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0038780; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Alabama Museums,
Tuscaloosa, AL
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 University of Alabama Museums has
completed an inventory of human
[[Page 80922]]
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.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after November 4, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Dr. William Bomar, Executive Director, University of Alabama
Museums, Box 870340, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, telephone (205) 348-7551,
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a4c6c6cbc9c5d6e4d1c58ac1c0d1"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="660404090b071426130748030213">[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
University of Alabama Museums, and additional information on the
determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation,
can be found in its inventory or related records. The National Park
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
Abstract of Information Available
Human remains representing, at least, 23 individuals have been
identified. The 152 lots of associated funerary objects are ceramic
vessels, ceramic sherds, lithics, ground stone, discoidal, shell,
faunal bone, copper, stone disk, sandstone, charcoal, burial fill, and
botanical remains.
The human remains and associated funerary objects from sites in
Hale and Tuscaloosa Counties, Alabama, and Moundville that are in the
possession of the University of Alabama Museums derive from various
investigations and private collection donations primarily dating to the
period 1933-1996. These sites in Hale and Tuscaloosa Counties are
associated with the larger site of Moundville. During its Native
American occupation, the Moundville site and the surrounding area were
inhabited by several thousand people in a relatively dense occupancy,
and over a prolonged period of time. Excavations at various sites in
Hale and Tuscaloosa Counties, AL and Moundville contributed to the
human remains and associated funerary objects in the University of
Alabama Museums' collection.
At an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one
individual was removed from an unknown location in Tuscaloosa County,
AL. Provenience from the bag where these human remains were found is as
follows: ``Material from dog Nancy Miss Marsh for Anth 13 76
Brookhaven, Tuscaloosa'' (Box 1502, Bag 21). The collection contains no
additional information as to the origin of the human remains and is
simply designated as ``Brookhaven.'' Based on morphological
characteristics identified through osteological analysis, the human
remains are Native American. No known individuals are identified. No
associated funerary objects are present.
In 1933, human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals
were excavated and removed from Site 1Ha14/1Ha15, the Taylor Site. Site
1Ha14/1Ha15 was recorded by Walter B. Jones of the Alabama Museum of
Natural History. The site consists of the mound originally called 1Ha14
and the associated village originally called 1Ha15. Site 1Ha14 is now
considered to include both the mound and village and 1Ha15 is
considered a synonym. The mound is a small eroded earthen mound,
situated approximately 50 yards from the bank of the Touson Lake, a
small ox box lake about two miles west of the town of Moundville. After
a 1970 flood, the University of Alabama removed two burials, which had
been exposed and disturbed at that time. Neither of the burials
contained chronologically diagnostic grave goods. No known individuals
are identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
From the 1930s to 2000, human remains representing, at minimum, 14
individuals were excavated and removed from site 1Tu66, the Grady Bobo
site. Site 1Tu66 was originally recorded in 1933 by Walter B. Jones and
John Dodd of the Alabama Museum of Natural History. The site was
revisited by a survey party from the University of Michigan in 1978-
1979. In 1999 the University of North Carolina archaeological field
school returned to the Grady Bobo (1Tu66) site. Burial 1 was
encountered while excavating Feature 10 during the field school in
1999. Dr. Keith Jacobi of the University of Alabama came to the Bobo
site to document the remains in Burial 1 in situ. It is stated the
bones were left in situ and covered with soil immediately after
documentation was complete. All feature soil, including burial fill,
was bagged. The site was revisited during the 2000 field season by the
University of North Carolina. During this time two burials were
uncovered and documented by Dr. Keith Jacobi of the University of
Alabama in situ. No known individuals are identified. The 54 lots of
associated funerary objects include ceramic sherds, lithics, ground
stone, shell, faunal bone, charcoal, and botanical remains.
Between 1905 and 1979, human remains representing, at minimum, one
individual was excavated and removed from site 1Ha107/1Tu41. Site 1Tu41
was originally recorded by C.B. Moore in 1905 and later in 1933 by
Walter B. Jones of the Alabama Museum of Natural History. The site is a
mound and was one of a dozen habitation sites in a large field. Each
site was initially given a separate number, but later, during
excavation, were all combined under site 1Ha107. The site complex,
however, is centered in Tuscaloosa County, and included the previously
recorded mound, 1Tu41. C.B. Moore reported a mound at this position.
Despite its eroded state Moore dug into the mound but found no burials.
In July 1933, Jones was able to relocate the mound, and he notes that
the mound was largely obliterated by cultivation. The UMMA survey team
in 1979 was unable to find the mound. No known individuals are
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
In 1937, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual was
excavated and removed from site 1Tu115. Site 1Tu115 was originally
recorded by Walter B. Jones of the Alabama Museum of Natural History.
Human bone, pottery sherds, and a few flints were recorded as being
seen. The collection contains no additional information as to the
origin of the human remains and there is no map location for this site.
No known individuals are identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
In 1970, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual was
excavated and removed from site 1Tu240. Site 1Tu240 was recorded by
Jerry Nielsen and Craig Sheldon of the University of Alabama. The
original investigation was by boat as material was eroding out of the
upper part of the riverbank, adjacent to a pasture. A pit was observed
eroding out of the riverbank and a small midden zone was observed. Clay
Wiggins of Fosters excavated a burial urn eroding out of the riverbank.
No known individuals are identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
In 1973, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual was
excavated and removed from site 1Tu242/1Tu303. Site 1Tu242 was recorded
by Charles Hubbert of the University of Alabama. The site is located on
a high, flat plateau just south of where a small stream enters the
Sipsey River flood plain and just north of the railroad in the area.
Caleb Curren, of the University of Alabama also used this number for a
site near Moundville, but that site has been renumbered 1Tu303. No
human remains were recorded as being excavated. No known
[[Page 80923]]
individuals are identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
In 1996, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual was
excavated and removed from site 1Tu768, the Gerald Wiggins Site. Site
1Tu768 was originally recorded by Margaret Scarry, John Scarry, and
Mintcy Maxham of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. The
Gerald Wiggins site is a Late Moundville I farmstead in the Black
Warrior floodplain. The site was identified by the landowner, Gerald
Wiggins, on the basis of a feature eroding from a road cut on his
property. Surface collection yielded artifacts only in the immediate
vicinity of the darker soil of the feature. No human remains were
recorded as being excavated. The individual identified was housed with
faunal remains and so it is likely it was misidentified as faunal at
the time of excavation. No known individuals are identified. No
associated funerary objects are present.
During a period from the 1930s to the late 1980s, 29 lots of
associated funerary objects were excavated and removed from Site
1Tu500, the Moundville site, during various excavations, including
field schools conducted by the University of Alabama. Moundville, a
large mound complex on the banks of the Black Warrior River whose
occupation spans the Late Woodland and the West Jefferson phase through
the Moundville I, II, and III phases, and terminates in the Late
Mississippian/Protohistoric Moundville IV phase, has been the subject
of two centuries of archaeological inquiry. The 29 lots of associated
funerary objects include ceramic vessels, ceramic sherds, discoidals,
shell, copper, and a stone disk.
In the 1930s and again in 1997, 69 lots of associated funerary
objects were excavated and removed from Site 1Tu1, the Pride Place
site. The site dates from Late Woodland, West Jefferson phase to the
Moundville III phase. The lots of associated funerary objects include
ceramic vessels, ceramic sherds, lithics, charcoal, ground stone,
burial fill, discoidal, sandstone, faunal bone, and shell.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation,
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location or acquisition history of the human remains and associated
funerary objects described in this notice.
Determinations
The University of Alabama Museums has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 23 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 152 lots of objects described in this notice are
reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally 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 connection between the human remains and
associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Alabama-
Quassarte Tribal Town; Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Seminole Tribe of
Florida (previously listed as Seminole Tribe of Florida; The Chickasaw
Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation;
and The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma with letters of support from the
Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas and the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians.
Requests for Repatriation
Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the
authorized representative identified in this notice under 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with
cultural affiliation.
Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects
described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after November
4, 2024. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the
University of Alabama 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 University of Alabama is responsible
for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native
Hawaiian organizations identified in this notice.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: September 25, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-22885 Filed 10-3-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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