Notice2026-06359
Notice of Inventory Completion: Big Bone Lick State Historic Site, Kentucky State Parks, Union, KY
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
April 2, 2026
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentNational Park Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Big Bone Lick State Historic Site, Kentucky State Parks, 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 91 Issue 63 (Thursday, April 2, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 63 (Thursday, April 2, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Page 16730]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-06359]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[N7041; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042505; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Big Bone Lick State Historic
Site, Kentucky State Parks, Union, KY
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Big Bone Lick State Historic Site, Kentucky
State Parks, 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 May 4, 2026.
ADDRESSES: Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains
and associated funerary objects in this notice to Jennifer Spence,
Parks Curator, Kentucky State Parks, Mayo-Underwood Building, 5th
Floor, 500 Mero Street, Frankfort, KY 40601, email
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e9838c8787808f8c9bc79a998c878a8ca98290c78e869f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e78d8289898e818295c9949782898482a78c9ec9808891">[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 Big
Bone Lick State Historic Site, Kentucky State Parks, 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 a minimum of three individuals and two
associated funerary objects have been identified. The two funerary
objects include one large mussel shell and the base of one projectile
point.
These remains and objects were recovered from the Glacken site
(15Be272) at Big Bone Lick State Historic Site in Boone County,
Kentucky, during archaeological excavations in 1981 and 1982. The 1981
excavations uncovered fragmentary remains representing at least one
individual. In 1982, the University of Kentucky field school excavated
two burials--an adult male and a child. The two funerary objects were
found with the adult burial. The remains of the three individuals are
curated at the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology at the University
of Kentucky in Lexington, Fayette County.
Archaeological records indicate that the two burials excavated in
1982 were interred in a manner consistent with Late Archaic burial
practices. Radiocarbon dating of a sample associated with an earth oven
and the intrusive child burial yielded an approximate date of 2140 BC.
There are no known potentially hazardous substances used to treat
any of the human remains or associated funerary objects.
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
Big Bone Lick State Historic Site, Kentucky State Parks, has
determined that:
<bullet> The human remains described in this notice represent the
physical remains of three individuals of Native American ancestry.
<bullet> The two 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 Cherokee
Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Eastern Shawnee Tribe of
Oklahoma; and the Shawnee Tribe.
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 May 4,
2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, Big Bone
Lick State Historic Site, Kentucky State Parks 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. Big Bone Lick
State Historic Site, Kentucky State Parks, is responsible for sending a
copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian
organizations identified in this notice and any other consulting
parties.
Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.
Dated: March 24, 2026.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2026-06359 Filed 4-1-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on April 2, 2026.
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