[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 104 (Wednesday, June 1, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31525-31526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10797]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Repatriate a Cultural Item: National Guard 
Bureau, Texas Army National Guard (Texas Military Forces), Austin, TX

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the National Guard Bureau, Texas Military 
Forces (TXMF, which is the state agency that, per 25 USC Sec.  3001(8), 
has ``control'' of the cultural item) and the Texas Historical 
Commission (the state agency that has guardianship of the cultural 
item) determined that one unassociated funerary object in the 
collections of the TXMF, described below in Information about cultural 
items, is culturally affiliated with the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. The 
cultural item is in the physical custody of the Texas Archaeological 
Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin.
    The National Park Service publishes this notice on behalf of the 
TXMF as part of the National Park Service's administrative 
responsibilities under NAGPRA. The TXMF is solely responsible for 
information and determinations stated in this notice. The National Park 
Service is not responsible for the TXMF's determinations.
    Information about NAGPRA is available online at http://www.cr.nps.gov/nagpra.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural item to the Caddo Nation of 
Oklahoma may proceed after July 1, 2005, if no additional claimants 
come forward. Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes 
itself to be culturally affiliated with the cultural item should 
contact the TXMF before July 1, 2005.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Authority. 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq. and 43 CFR 
Part 10.
    Contact.Contact Lieutenant Colonel Patrick T Dye, Environmental 
Program Manager, Texas Military Forces, P.O. Box 5218 (JFTX-G4-EV), 
Austin, TX 78763-5218, telephone (512) 782-6813, regarding 
determinations stated in this notice or to claim the cultural item 
described in this notice.
    Consultation. TXMF officials and the University of Texas at San 
Antonio archeologists identified the cultural item and assessed the 
cultural affiliation of the cultural item at the request of the Caddo 
Nation of Oklahoma, and in consultation with representatives of the 
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.
    Information about cultural items. In 2000, archeologists with the 
Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio 
removed one ceramic vessel during test excavations at site 41LR152, at 
the TXMF's Camp Maxey facility in Lamar County, TX. The vessel was 
collected from level seven of excavation unit two, 70 centimeters below 
surface, and was in an upright position with no associated artifacts. 
In the report Camp Maxey III Archaeological Testing of 23 Prehistoric 
Sites, Lamar County, Texas (Mahoney et al 2001), the vessel is 
described as a ``fine grog-tempered plain jar, of undetermined type, 
with a direct rim and a flat lip, and a flat base.'' Excavations around 
the vessel did not indicate any subsurface disturbances that would 
indicate a burial feature. However, an archeological consultant hired 
by the TXMF suggested that due to the condition of the vessel, and its 
depth and vertical orientation, the vessel may have been associated 
with a burial. TXMF agreed with the consultant and the conclusion that 
the vessel meets the definition of an ``unassociated funerary object'' 
as defined at 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B).The site from which the cultural 
item was removed (Camp Maxey) is State and not Federal property.
    During a meeting on April 10, 2003, the Caddo NAGPRA representative 
requested information regarding the ceramic vessel that was removed 
from site 41LR152 at the TXMF Camp Maxey facility, and which he 
believed might meet the definition of an unassociated funerary 
object.Intact ceramic vessels are typically encountered in association 
with burials and are rarely discovered in other contexts. The 
excavation report notes that, ``the recovery of an intact

[[Page 31526]]

native ceramic vessel, with a terminal depth of 70cm bs, is a definite 
anomaly'' but concedes that depending upon how long ago the vessel was 
deposited, ``it is feasible to assume that the intrusive activity may 
no longer be discernable in the stratigraphy'' (Mahoney et al 2001). 
The TXMF consultant suggested that the vessel may have been associated 
with a human burial, but that conditions at the site were not conducive 
to the preservation of human remains.
    Radiocarbon dates and the absence of stratigraphic evidence for a 
pit indicate that the vessel is associated with the Woodland period. 
The archeological record in northeast Texas provides evidence for 
cultural continuity between the Woodland period and subsequent Caddo 
periods. Williams Plain pottery, which first appeared during the 
Woodland period, has been discovered in association with later Caddoan 
pottery; and in the Red River Basin, the production of Williams Plain 
pottery appears to have continued until the end of the Middle Caddoan 
period, circa A.D. 1300. This shared ceramic tradition suggests 
cultural continuity between the Woodland period inhabitants of the Red 
River Basin and later Caddo occupants of the basin.
    Determination. Under 25 U.S.C. 3005, TXMF officials determined that 
the one ceramic vessel described above is 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 and is believed, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed from a specific 
burial site of a Native American individual.
    TXMF officials determined that the unassociated funerary object is 
culturally affiliated with the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.
    Notification. The TXMF is responsible for sending a copy of this 
notice to the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.

    Dated: May 20, 2005.
Paul Hoffman,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
[FR Doc. 05-10797 Filed 5-31-05; 8:45 am]
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