Notice2025-23339
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Florida-Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL
Primary source
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Published
December 19, 2025
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Florida-Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH) 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 90 Issue 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 242 (Friday, December 19, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59573-59574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23339]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6751; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0041532; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Florida-Florida
Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL
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 Florida-Florida Museum of
Natural History (FLMNH) 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.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after January 20, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to David Blackburn,
University of Florida, Florida Museum of Natural History, 1659 Museum
Road, Gainesville, FL 32611, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#115f70766163705e777778727451777d7e637875707c646274647c3f64777d3f747564"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="460827213634270920202f252306202a29342f22272b333523332b6833202a68232233">[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 Florida-Florida Museum of Natural History, 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
FLMNH has identified human remains representing at least 90
individuals from seven sites across Duval and St. Johns Counties,
Florida in the collections. There are a total of 15,427 associated
funerary objects across sites including beads, ceramics, fauna, shell,
red ochre, buttons, lead, glass, lithics, and other items. Each site is
described individually below.
(1) Brown Saxon (8DU62) is a 9.9-hectare multicomponent site that
covers a large section of the interior part of the Theodore Roosevelt
Preserve. The site runs parallel to the shoreline, although it is found
on the higher ground inland from the marsh's edge. It was originally
documented by William H. Sears. Sears performed three FLMNH museum
expeditions in 1955, 1957, and 1959. The artifacts and human remains
housed in the FLMNH originate from these expeditions. Human remains
representing at least 41 individuals have been identified. The 615
associated funerary objects are pottery and fauna remains.
(2) Goodman (8DU66A) is located on the east bank of Mill Cove on
the south side of the St. Johns River. In the spring of 1961, through
the FLMNH, Douglas F. Jordon conducted excavations of this mound on
property owned by Morris Goodman who was in the process of subdividing
the land for development. Human remains representing at least 29
individuals have been identified (25 subadults and four adults). The
approximately 3,500 associated funerary objects include pottery sherds,
worked bone, bone/shell beads, stone tools, shell, and red ochre.
(3) McCormack (8DU66) is a multicomponent site located on the east
side of Mill Cove. The site once consisted of a mound (Goodman Mound
(8DU66A)) and an extensive shell midden. McCormack was first
investigated by William H. Sears in 1955. The results of these
excavations showed extensive occupation over long dur[eacute]e.
Artifacts and human remains housed at the FLMNH originate from
expeditions by Sears. Human remains representing, at least, seven
individuals have been identified (one subadult and six adults). The 131
associated funerary objects include 74 catalogs of faunal and shell, as
well as 57 catalogs of pottery, glass and lithic from the burial mound
context, including Tests one and three.
[[Page 59574]]
(4) Potters Fiesta (SA23) is in St. Augustine, St. Johns County,
Florida, located south of the present-day plaza in downtown St.
Augustine. The holdings at the FLMNH come from excavations carried out
at the site by the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board in 1986.
Excavations were undertaken due to proposed development on the parking
lot area south of the Fiesta Mall. These excavations revealed that the
site ranges from the First Spanish period (1565-1763) to the 20th
century, containing late 16th and early 17th century burials that are
associated with the St. Augustine parish church of Nuestra
Se[ntilde]ora de los Remedios (Our Lady of Remedies). All burials at
the site were Christian style burials (oriented East-West, shroud
burials). Human remains representing at least nine individuals have
been identified. The 8,079 associated funerary objects include
fragments of iron, ceramic, mortar, buttons, lead, a copper lace tip,
charcoal, burned clay, fauna, shell, wood, and slag, among others.
(5) Ribera Gardens (SA12-26) is a historic site in St. Augustine,
St. Johns County, Florida. The site includes a midden where this
Ancestor was recovered and was excavated by the Historic St. Augustine
Preservation Borad (HSAPB) in 1989. These excavations found that the
site ranges from the First Spanish period (1565-1763) to the 20th
century. In 1999, after the HSAPB was dissolved, collections from this
site were transferred to the FLMNH by the State of Florida Legislative
mandate. Human remains representing, at least, one individual has been
identified. The 747 associated funerary objects include metal, glass,
pottery, and other fragments and a button.
(6) Spanish Hospital (SA28-1) is in St. Augustine of St. Johns
County, Florida, located south of the present-day plaza in downtown St.
Augustine. Excavations at this site were carried out by the Historic
St. Augustine Preservation Board (HSAPB) in 1979. The collections from
these excavations were later donated to the FLMNH in 1992. The
excavations revealed several Christian style burials associated with
the St. Augustine Parish Church of Nuestra Se[ntilde]ora de los
Remedios (Our Lady of Remedies). The burials date to the 16th and early
17th centuries and were disturbed by 18th, 19th, and 20th century
activities. Only one burial was recorded to have been excavated and
analyzed. Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have
been identified. The 188 associated funerary objects include Native
American ceramics, clothing, beads, pipes, tools, and gunflint.
(7) Summer Haven (8SJ46) is a prehistoric shell midden located
south of the Mantanzas Inlet in St. Johns County, Florida. According to
Bullen and Bullen (1961), the site spans the late Orange Period (1000
BC). The excavators describe how the midden had been damaged by road
construction in the 1950s. From this midden, the FLMNH houses
collections from various museum expeditions led by Ripley P. Bullen,
which were transferred from the Florida Park Service and the
Anthropology Department at the University of Florida, as well as
donations between 1959 and 1982. Human remains representing at least
one individual has been identified. There are approximately 2,167
associated funerary objects including fauna, pottery fragments, shell,
a pick, a hammer, a fishhook, and other miscellaneous items.
Cultural Affiliation
Based on the information available and the results of consultation
cultural affiliation is reasonably identified by the geographical
location of the human remains and associated funerary objects described
in this notice.
Determinations
The University of Florida-Florida Museum of Natural History has
determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of 90 individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The 15,427 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 Miccosukee
Tribe of Indians; Seminole Tribe of Florida; and The Muscogee (Creek)
Nation.
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 January
20, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the
University of Florida-Florida Museum of Natural History 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 Florida-Florida Museum of Natural History 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: December 3, 2025.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2025-23339 Filed 12-18-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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