Notice2026-04035
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Maine, Anthropology Department, Orono, ME
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
March 2, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Maine 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 several locations within the state of Maine.
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 40 (Monday, March 2, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 40 (Monday, March 2, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10115-10117]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-04035]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N6885; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042085; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Maine, Anthropology
Department, Orono, ME
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the University of Maine 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 several locations within the state
of Maine.
DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary
objects in this notice may occur on or after April 1, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of human remains and
associated funerary objects in this notice to Dr. Bonnie Newsom,
Anthropology Department, University of Maine, 5773 South Stevens Hall,
Orono, ME 04469, email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e2808d8c8c8b87cc8c8795918d8fa28f838b8c87cc878697"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e6848988888f83c888839195898ba68b878f8883c8838293">[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 Maine, 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 one individual were removed from Site
17.125, a shell midden site located on Halls Island in Muscongus Bay in
Knox County, Maine. The remains were removed in 1983 during excavations
conducted by Dr. David Sanger and were returned to the University of
Maine. The remains have been identified as one human tarsal phalanx;
age and sex were not determined. No associated funerary objects are
present. Dentate-decorated pottery found at the site suggests the site
dates to the Middle Woodland Period. Based on the context
[[Page 10116]]
of the human remains in a shell midden site with Native American
artifacts, it is reasonable to assume the human remains are Native
American.
Human remains representing at least one individual were removed
from the Grindle site (ME 42.10) located in Blue Hill in Hancock
County, Maine. The remains were removed in 1968 during excavations
conducted by Dr. Dean Snow and were returned to the University of
Maine. The remains have been identified as three human left metatarsal
bones, age and sex were not determined. No associated funerary objects
are present. Charcoal found near the remains was radiocarbon dated to
820<plus-minus>80 BP (A.D. 1130<plus-minus>80), based on this Middle
Woodland Period date and the context of the remains in a shell midden
site with Native American artifacts it is reasonable to assume the
human remains are Native American.
Human remains representing at least one individual were removed
from the Holmes Point East site (ME 62.06) in Machiasport, Washington
County, Maine. The remains were removed in 1973 by Robert MacKay from
the University of Maine during field school excavations and returned to
the University of Maine. The sex of the individual is indeterminate;
their age is between seven and 15 years old. The remains include 11
bone fragments identified as the following elements: scapula, femur,
manubrium, atlas, axis, cervical vertebra, and thoracic vertebra. No
associated funerary objects are present. No radiocarbon date is
associated with the remains; however, based on the context of the
remains in a Woodland Period shell midden site with Native American
artifacts it is reasonable to assume the human remains are Native
American.
Between 1968 and 1969 Dr. Dean R. Snow from the University of Maine
removed the contents of 18 grave lots from the Hathaway Cemetery site
(ME 91.01) located in Passadumkeag, Penobscot County, Maine. Dr. Snow
noted that most, if not all, of the graves were cremation burials.
Radiocarbon dates of the burials range from 200<plus-minus>80 BP (A.D.
1750) to 5156<plus-minus>185 BP (3200 BC). The current University of
Maine collection contains a minimum of 11 individuals. None of the
human bone remains were identified to element, and age and sex were not
determined. The collection includes over 107 small calcined human bone
fragments, often mixed with burial fill samples containing ocher and
charcoal. The 240 associated funerary objects include a split cobble,
ground slate points, gouges, celt fragments, bifaces, scrapers, a
graver, a drill fragment, hammerstones, a plummet, abraders, a stone
amulet, pebbles, cobbles, lithic flakes, a flaked cobble, pieces of
phyllite, a chert nodule, a strike-a-lite, an iron concretion, a clay
lump, ocher samples some with human bone, charcoal samples, burial fill
samples some with human bone, and bark and wood samples. Based on the
association of red ocher, the radiocarbon dates, and the above-listed
funerary objects, it is reasonable to assume these burials are Native
American.
The Bradley Cemetery site (ME 74.01) is a large Late Archaic Period
cemetery located in Bradley, Penobscot County, Maine. A radiocarbon
date on birch bark recovered from a limonite concretion adhered to a
celt excavated in 1969 provided a date of 4,590<plus-minus>120 years BP
(2640 BC). The University of Maine holds the remains from 12 grave lots
removed from the cemetery by Robert MacKay in 1969 and 1971 while he
was an archaeologist at the University of Maine. The University also
owns a collection of artifacts removed from the cemetery by James
Hosmer in the 1960s, an employee of the Maine Department of
Transportation (DOT), collected when the DOT was removing gravel from
the site. In 1984 Dr. David Sanger of the University of Maine returned
to Bradley cemetery to conduct archaeological excavations as part of a
proposed hydroelectric dam relicensing project. He determined that the
cemetery had been destroyed. No human remains are present in the
collection from the Bradley Cemetery. The 113 associated funerary
objects from the 12 graves include; ground slate points, gouges, celts,
a celt preform, rounded pebbles, hammerstones, plummets, cobbles,
modified cobbles, a cobble with a hole, stemmed bifaces, slate bayonet
fragments, a lithic flake, a lithic chunk, ground slate fragments,
whetstones, stone effigies, a fire-cracked-rock, pyrite samples, and
ocher samples. Based on the description of the graves at the cemetery,
the radiocarbon date, the presence of red ocher, and the associated
funerary objects it is reasonable to assume these funerary objects were
removed from Native American burials.
The Young Site (ME 73.10) is located on the north bank of Pushaw
Stream in Alton, Penobscot County, Maine. In 1975 and 1977, Dr. David
Sanger from the University of Maine conducted excavations at the site
and removed a cremation burial. Eight radiocarbon dates on charcoal
from the cremation burial produced dates ranging from 3105<plus-
minus>50 BP to 3715<plus-minus>60 BP. No human remains were found
within the cremation burial. However, 57 funerary objects were removed
from the burial and housed at the University of Maine. The 57
associated funerary objects include 51 biface fragments, two
hammerstones, two retouched lithic flakes, and two slate bayonet
fragments that refit. Based on the presence of red ocher within the
cremation burial, the radiocarbon dates, and the associated funerary
objects, it is reasonable to assume this is a Native American burial.
The Erkkila Cemetery site (ME-27.03) is located in Warren, Knox
County, Maine. In 1995 Dr. Brian Robinson removed a burial from the
cemetery that was exposed during gravel quarrying activities. Robinson
brought the human remains and associated funerary objects to the
University of Maine in 2004. The burial contained a minimum of one
individual represented by a mandible, a maxilla (articulated when
found), two frontal skull fragments, one posterior skull fragment, one
femur fragment, one femur or humerus fragment and numerous tiny
unidentified bone fragments included in burial fill samples. The sex
and age of the individual are indeterminate due to the fragmentary
state of the bones and the fact that Robinson coated them with B-72, a
thermoplastic resin, to preserve them. A radiocarbon date on wood
charcoal from the burial produced a date of 1760<plus-minus>70 years
BP. The collection also contains ocher and charcoal samples collected
from burials at the cemetery by Richard Orcutt. The 57 associated
funerary objects include a copper bead with cordage, 12 rocks, a fire-
cracked-rock, charred wood samples, ocher samples, charcoal samples,
charcoal and sediment samples, some with human bone, feature and burial
fill samples, some with human bone, one burial fill sample with copper,
and seven casts (two casts made of skull fragments, two casts of the
upper mandible, two casts of the lower mandible, and a cast of a stone
effigy found by a collector. The stone effigy that was cast is not part
of the collection housed at the University of Maine, Orono). Based on
the description of the grave, the radiocarbon date, the presence of red
ocher and the associated funerary objects it is reasonable to assume
this burial is Native American.
Dr. David Sanger from the University of Maine conducted excavations
at the Eddington Bend Site (ME 74.08) in 1986 and 1989 as part of a
proposed hydroelectric dam relicensing project. The Eddington Bend Site
is located in Eddington, Penobscot County, Maine. These excavations
removed part of a burial feature with the remains of a minimum of nine
individuals including three subadults aged 6-15, one male
[[Page 10117]]
aged 19-21, four adult males aged 35-45, 40-50, and 25-40, and one
adult female of indeterminate age. Most of these remains were
repatriated in 1998 (Federal Register 63 FR 4285, January 28, 1998).
Recent inventorying efforts at the University of Maine identified
additional human remains from this burial feature including 265 small
bone fragments: seven mandibular fragments, four fibular fragments, 43
skull fragments, seven rib fragments, four vertebrae fragments, 10
sacral fragments, 69 long bone fragments, 23 teeth fragments, and 98
unidentified fragments. The 34 associated funerary objects include
bifaces, both complete and fragmentary, an ocher-stained cobble, ocher
samples, and eight casts of human bones removed from a grave at the
site. Dr. Brian Robinson had a rubber mold of a Susquehanna Tradition
stone striker made for creating casts of the artifact. He also made
eight casts of human bones removed from a grave at the site. The bone
used to make the casts and the artifact used to make the rubber mold
are not in collections housed at the University of Maine, Orono.
Remains from this burial feature were previously determined to be
Native American based on dental morphology.
Dr. Brian Robinson removed human remains representing at least one
individual from the Nevin site (ME 42.01) located in Blue Hill, Hancock
County, Maine. The individual is represented by one unidentified human
bone fragment. The 25 associated funerary objects removed from the site
include a ridged hammerstone fragment, a lithic core fragment, a celt
fragment, abraders, a ground stone tool fragment, a pecked cobble, a
biface tip, utilized lithic flakes, a lithic flake, one bird bone
fragment, two plaster casts of bone artifacts from burials, five wax
flakes scraped from funerary objects after casting the objects, and six
sealed glass vials of bone apatite from human remains removed from the
site but not housed at the University of Maine. A total of 12
radiocarbon dates were obtained and reported by Dr. Douglas Byers in
1979 on habitation debris from site deposits, including bone, oyster
shell, and a swordfish rostrum. This material was dated by the
Smithsonian Institute, and the dates ranged from 2,660<plus-minus>85
years BP to 4,245<plus-minus>115 years BP.
Human remains representing, at least, one individual were removed
from unknown sites in Maine. These remains were donated to the
University of Maine over its history and include two small fragments of
unidentified calcined human bone and six samples of red ocher that
likely contain human bone, but the samples were not investigated to try
to confirm the presence of human remains. The six associated funerary
objects are six samples of red ocher.
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 to be the Houlton Band of
Maliseet Indians; Mi'kmaq Nation (previously listed as Aroostook Band
of Micmacs); Passamaquoddy Tribe; and Penobscot Nation.
Determinations
The University of Maine has determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of a minimum of 26 individuals of Native American
ancestry.
<bullet> The 532 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 Houlton
Band of Maliseet Indians; Mi'kmaq Nation (previously listed as
Aroostook Band of Micmacs); Passamaquoddy Tribe; and the Penobscot
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 April 1,
2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the
University of Maine 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 Maine 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: February 20, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-04035 Filed 2-27-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on March 2, 2026.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.