[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 234 (Thursday, December 4, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73952-73954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28696]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Robert S. Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects in the possession of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA. The human remains and 
associated funerary objects were removed from Montezuma County, CO, and 
San Juan County, NM.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3). 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Robert S. 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, 
New Mexico & Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico (formerly the Pueblo of 
San Juan); Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; 
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico.
    In 1898, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from ``cliff house,'' Mesa Verde, Montezuma, CO, by Warren 
King Moorehead for Robert S. Peabody. No known individual was 
identified. The one associated funerary object is the cotton cloth in 
which the mummified infant is wrapped.
    ``Cliff house'' may be Cliff Palace or it may be one of several 
unidentifiable structures excavated by Moorehead. Occupation dates for 
Mesa Verde are A.D. 600 to A.D. 1300. Based on Moorehead's description 
and the cotton wrapping, the human remains fall within these dates. The 
Mesa Verde area was the center of important cultural developments 
archeologically classified as Pueblo I-III periods, during which people 
established aggregated agricultural villages with distinctive 
architecture, ceramics, and ceremonial practices.
    In 1897, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Group, San Juan County, NM, by 
Warren King Moorehead for Robert S. Peabody. No known individual was 
identified. The one associated funerary object is a reed mat.
    In 1897, human remains representing a minimum of two individuals 
were removed from Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Group, San Juan County, NM, by 
Warren King Moorehead for Robert S. Peabody. No known individuals were 
identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    In 1897, five associated funerary objects were removed from Pueblo 
Bonito, Chaco Group, San Juan County, NM, by Warren King Moorehead for 
Robert S. Peabody. The human remains are held by the Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, which 
is a separate institution from the Robert S. Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology. The five associated funerary objects are one wood mat, one 
feathered robe, and three ceramic pitchers.
    Pueblo Bonito is the largest and most famous site in Chaco Canyon, 
and among the most well documented of the 12 Ancestral Puebloan ``great 
houses'' located there. As an architectural type, it shares with the 
others multiple stories, core-and-veneer masonry

[[Page 73953]]

construction, and larger rooms and subterranean kivas than found in 
preceding periods. Pueblo Bonito's planned D-shaped structure was five 
stories high along its back wall and may have had 800 rooms. It was 
built in three major episodes beginning around A.D. 919 and ending 
about A.D. 1140. At its peak in the late 10th century as many as 600 
rooms may have been in use.
    In 1897, human remains representing a minimum of one individual 
were removed from a ``Graveyard'' near Chaco Group, San Juan County, 
NM, by Warren King Moorehead for Robert S. Peabody. No known individual 
was identified. No associated funerary objects are present.
    This site is a small ``cemetery'' about a mile from Pueblo Bonito. 
Archeological evidence indicates that Puebloan people were in Chaco 
Canyon since at least the Basketmaker period (circa A.D. 1). A survey 
of the Chaco area has identified what archeologists refer to as Pueblo 
I sites that date from A.D. 700 to 900. Pueblo Bonito was built and 
occupied during later Pueblo II and III, a period of time lasting from 
approximately A.D. 900 to 1200.
    Robert S. Peabody's collection became the basis for the Robert S. 
Peabody Museum of Archaeology at its founding in 1901. Peabody hired 
Moorehead to excavate Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde. The items Moorehead 
collected were added to Peabody's already existing collection. The oral 
tradition evidence describes dynamic population movements from Mesa 
Verde around A.D. 1300. It also describes migration and trade routes at 
the time of occupation. The archeological literature refers to this 
widespread cultural tradition as ``Anasazi,'' ``Ancestral Puebloan,'' 
or ``Ancient Puebloan.'' After approximately A.D. 1300, climatic 
changes evidently caused the populations to leave the Four Corners 
region, and resettle in Pueblos along the Rio Grande and in the Pueblos 
of Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi. Pueblo oral tradition places Chaco Canyon, 
including Pueblo Bonito, on migration routes. Songs and stories include 
Chaco as a place of occupation, trade, and migration. Based on 
scientific evidence, the establishment of trading networks with 
neighboring areas during the preliminary stages of Pueblo II at Pueblo 
Bonito is indicated by decorated ceramics from sources to the south and 
corrugated utility wares that originated to the west (Cordell 
1979:149). These relationships expanded during Pueblo III and resulted 
in a cultural florescence typified by the construction of great kivas, 
a system of trails and roads connecting the site to a network of 
others, and a complex irrigation system. Diagnostic ceramics in the 
museum's Moorehead collection are Pueblo II and III types tentatively 
identified as Red Mesa Black-on-white (A.D. 875-1000), Gallup Black-on-
white (A.D. 1000-1100), Chaco Black-on-white (A.D. 1075-1130), and Mesa 
Verde Black-on-white (A.D. 1140-1225).
    After about A.D. 1200, the entire Chaco area, including Pueblo 
Bonito, went into a decline that roughly corresponds to population 
growth occurring in regions to the east and south. Continuities in 
architecture, ceramics, agricultural practices, food-processing 
technology, and rituals from Chaco Canyon's prehistoric settlements to 
the present-day Pueblos and Hopi Tribe bolster claims of cultural 
affiliation by these communities. Anthropological research corroborated 
during consultation indicates that many Puebloan peoples have 
additional bases for claiming cultural affiliation with the ancient 
residents of Chaco Canyon due to clan migrations, intermarriage, and 
the regrouping of communities over time.
    Navajo Nation oral history, which includes stories, songs and 
prayers, supports a relationship with Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon, but 
there is not a preponderance of evidence to support a relationship of 
shared group identity to the human remains described in this notice.
    Based on oral history, architecture, archeological, 
anthropological, consultation evidence, and scientific evidence, a 
relationship of shared group identity can be reasonably traced between 
the human remains from Mesa Verde, Pueblo Bonito, and the ``Graveyard'' 
near Chaco group and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Ohkay Owingeh, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; 
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico.
    Officials of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology have 
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains 
described above represent the physical remains of five individuals of 
Native American ancestry. Officials of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 
(3)(A), the seven objects described 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, officials 
of the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology also have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared 
group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Ohkay Owingeh, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Felipe, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo of Sandia, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Clara, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; 
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
objects should contact Malinda Blustain, Director, Robert S. Peabody 
Museum of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, 175 Main Street, Andover, MA 
01810, telephone (978) 749-4493, before January 5, 2009. Repatriation 
of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Hopi Tribe 
of Arizona; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of 
Jemez, New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New 
Mexico; Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Santa Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Taos, New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New 
Mexico; Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New

[[Page 73954]]

Mexico may proceed after that date if no additional claimants come 
forward.
    The Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology is responsible for 
notifying the Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Navajo Nation, Arizona, New Mexico 
& Utah; Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico; Pueblo of Acoma, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Cochiti, New Mexico; Pueblo of Isleta, New Mexico; Pueblo of Jemez, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico; Pueblo of Nambe, New Mexico; 
Pueblo of Picuris, New Mexico; Pueblo of Pojoaque, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of San Felipe, New Mexico; Pueblo of San Ildefonso, New Mexico; Pueblo 
of Sandia, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa Ana, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santa 
Clara, New Mexico; Pueblo of Santo Domingo, New Mexico; Pueblo of Taos, 
New Mexico; Pueblo of Tesuque, New Mexico; Pueblo of Zia, New Mexico; 
Ysleta del Sur Pueblo of Texas; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, 
New Mexico that this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 6, 2008
Sherry Hutt.
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E8-28696 Filed 12-3-08; 8:45 am]
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