[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 23 (Friday, February 2, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3944-3945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-2159]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains
and Associated Funerary Objects in the Control of the Bureau of
Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office, Salt Lake City, UT
AGENCY: National Park Service
ACTION: Notice
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Notice is hereby given under the Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d), of the completion of an
inventory for Native American human remains and associated funerary
objects from four sites in New Mexico currently in the control of the
Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Regional Office, Salt Lake City,
UT.
Under contract with the Bureau of Reclamation, a detailed inventory
and assessment has been made by members of the professional staff of
Southern Methodist University, where the remains and associated
funerary objects were originally curated, the Museum of New Mexico, and
the Utah Museum of Natural History in consultation with representatives
of Nambe Pueblo. Meetings with representatives from Nambe Pueblo have
been held at Nambe Pueblo on three occasions during 1994-95, in
addition to many phone conversations during this period.
During 1973-75, the National Park Service was contracting for the
Bureau of Reclamation, who planned to build a dam and reservoir at
Nambe Falls on tribal lands owned by Nambe Pueblo. Southern Methodist
University, under contract with the National Park Service, Southwest
Cultural Resource Center, Santa Fe, Contract #CX 700030194, conducted
data recovery investigations at four sites around Nambe Falls under the
authority of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Under
agreement with the National Park Service, the collections resulting
from this work were accessioned by Southern Methodist University. In
1995, in consultation with representatives of Nambe Pueblo, the Bureau
of Reclamation deaccessioned the collections from Southern Methodist
University and transferred them to the Museum of New Mexico.
[[Page 3945]]
Human remains from Site X29SF17 consist of four individuals. Two
adults and an infant were interred together just above the floor of the
pithouse. One fragmentary scapula from a fourth individual, an older
adult, was found nearby. No known individuals were identified. Cultural
items associated with these burials were the remains of three dogs.
Site X29SF17 consisted of three structures: a pithouse, an
associated surface room block, and a fieldhouse. Cultural materials
excavated from the site include stone tools and debris, ceramic sherds,
manos and metates, and faunal remains. Based on ceramic seriation,
archaeologists estimated that the site dates to the Developmental
Period, ca. A.D. 900-1100.
Human remains from Site X29SF7 include the extremely fragmentary
remains of one individual. No known individuals were identified. No
funerary objects were present.
Site X29SF7 consists of a pueblo with 26 surface rooms and one
kiva. Cultural materials excavated from the site include flaked stone
tools and debris, ceramic sherds, pieces of ground stone, and faunal
remains, including bone awls. Based on ceramic seriation,
archaeologists estimated that the site dates to the Coalition Period,
ca. A.D. 1200-1300.
Human remains from Site X29SF10 consist of one tooth from 1 older
adult individual. No known individuals were identified. No funerary
objects were present.
Site S29SF10 consisted of a pueblo with 32 surface rooms and one
kiva. Cultural materials excavated from the same site includes flaked
stone tools and debris, ceramic sherds, and pieces of ground stone.
Based on ceramic seriation, archaeologists estimated that the site
dates to the Coalition Period, ca. A.D. 1251-1269.
Human remains from Site X29SF47, Agawano Ouinge, consist of one
parietal fragment of one adult individual collected from the surface of
the site. No known individuals were identified. No funerary objects
were present.
Site X29SF47 consists of a large adobe-walled pueblo with three
room blocks arranged around a plaza and kiva depressions. Based on
ceramic seriation of cultural material from the site, archaeologists
estimated that the site dates to the Coalition/Classic Period, ca. A.D.
1350-1425.
All the human remains from these sites are identified as Puebloan,
and all are believed to be ancestral to present day Nambe Pueblo people
based on the archaeological context of their collection or excavation.
All four sites are located near the Rio Nambe and Nambe Falls,
approximately five miles from the present-day Nambe Pueblo, on Nambe
Pueblo lands. The cultural affiliation of these individuals can be
considered ancestral to the northern Rio Grande Pueblos based on the
application of the Wendorf and Reed 1955 chronologic framework, as
modified by Skinner et al 1980. Skinner et al concluded that the
movement of Puebloan people into this area occurred sometime prior to
A.D. 1200 and the population eventually was consolidated in the
vicinity of the modern Nambe Pueblo.
Based on the above-mentioned information from these four sites, the
Bureau of Reclamation's Upper Colorado Regional Archaeologist has
determined that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10 (d)(1), the human remains listed
above represent the physical remains of seven individuals of Native
American ancestry. The Bureau of Reclaimation's Upper Colorado Regional
Archaeologist has also determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001
(3)(A), the remains of three dogs listed above 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. Lastly, the
Bureau of Reclamation's Upper Colorado Regional Archaeologist has
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a
relationship of shared group identity which can be reasonably traced
between these human remains and Nambe Pueblo.
This notice has been sent to the pueblos of Acoma, Cochiti, Hopi,
Isleta, Jemez, Laguna, Picuris, Pojoaque, San Felipe, San Ildefonso,
San Juan, Sandia, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Taos, Tesuque,
Zia, and Zuni. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes
itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains should
contact Dr. Signa Larralde, Regional Archaeologist, Upper Colorado
Region, Bureau of Reclamation, 125 S. State St., Room 6107, Salt Lake
City, Utah 84138-1102, telephone (801) 524-6292 #6 before March 4,
1996. Repatriation of these human remains to Nambe Pueblo may begin
after this date if no additional claimants come forward.
Dated: January 26, 1996
Veletta Canouts
Deputy Chief, Archeology and Ethnography Program
[FR Doc. 95-2159 Filed 2-1-96; 8:45 am]
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