[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 245 (Friday, December 21, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65738-65740]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-27646]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0027068; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: The University of Tennessee, 
Department of Anthropology, Knoxville, TN

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology (UTK) 
has completed an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
objects, in consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native 
Hawaiian organizations, and has determined that there is no cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and any present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. 
Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization not 
identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of 
these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request to UTK. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in 
this notice may proceed.

DATES: Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice that wish to request 
transfer of control of these human remains and associated funerary 
objects should submit a written request with information in support of 
the request to UTK at the address in this notice by January 22, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Robert Hinde, University of Tennessee, Office of the 
Provost, 527 Andy Holt Tower, Knoxville, TN 37996-0152, telephone (865) 
974-2445, email [email protected] and [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 under the control of the University of 
Tennessee, Department of Anthropology, Knoxville, TN. The human remains 
and associated funerary objects were removed from Site 40MU260, the 
Brown site, in Maury County, TN.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3) and 
43 CFR 10.11(d).

[[Page 65739]]

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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the 
University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology professional staff 
in consultation with representatives of the Cherokee Nation; Eastern 
Band of Cherokee Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the United 
Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1978 and 1979, upon the urging of the private landowner, 
human remains representing, at minimum, 47 individuals were removed 
from 40MU260, the Brown site in Maury County, TN, by Ken Steverson and 
members of the Duck River Chapter of the Tennessee Archaeological 
Society, after home construction and earth-moving equipment caused the 
exposure of several stone box graves. At an unknown date, likely in 
1979 or soon thereafter, the human remains were transferred to the 
University of Tennessee (UTK) Department of Anthropology. These 
individuals include 12 females or probable females, 17 males or 
probable males, five adults of indeterminate sex, and 13 subadults. No 
known individuals were identified. The 6,075 associated funerary 
objects include: Three tools worked into awls; 10 bifacially worked 
tools or tool fragments; 54 scrapers or blades, most made out of 
retouched flakes; 29 partial projectile points and knives; one chert 
core; 43 pieces of lithic shatter; 358 chert waste flakes; five celt 
fragments; one extremely large celt, 28 cm long by 15 cm wide; one 
fragmentary groundstone tool; one grinding stone; four hammerstones; 
four pieces of hematite with evidence of grinding, perhaps used for 
pigment; one polished fossiliferous stone; 12 pieces of sandstone, of 
which six show usewear as abraders; one sandstone discoidal; four 
pieces of limestone, of which two are burned; 62 nonculturally altered 
rocks associated with burials, including crinoid fossils, pieces of 
fossil shell conglomerate limestone and sandstone; 5003 ceramic sherds 
recovered directly from burial contexts, described as the sherd 
``floor'' of the stone box grave; 60 pieces of burned clay; 360 faunal 
bones and teeth, with identified species including box turtle, 
domesticated dog, turkey, bear, cotton rat and deer; nine samples of 
charcoaled botanical remains; and four bags of sediment from burial 
areas of the site. Included as part of the 6075 associated funerary 
objects are 45 artifacts temporally affiliated with the historic 
period: 26 Ceramic vessel sherds, one ceramic marble, six pieces of 
glass, seven nails, two pieces of metal strap, one horseshoe fragment, 
one pocket knife, and one piece of slate that may be from a writing 
tablet.
    The Brown site is a multi-component site, though the majority of 
artifacts consist of pottery vessel sherds which date to the 
Mississippian period. Most of these artifacts were recovered directly 
from burial contexts, as the stone box burials at the site were lined 
with broken vessel sherds, creating a ``floor'' for the burial. The 
Middle Cumberland Culture of central Tennessee, which dates from the 
Middle Mississippian period to well into the late Mississippian period 
(A.D. 1100-1500), is known for this type of mortuary complex, and 
particularly the use of stone box graves (Ferguson 1972). Stone box 
graves are pit graves that have been lined and covered with stone 
(typically limestone, but sometimes slate or shale). These graves 
sometimes have prepared floors of pebbles or pottery sherds, as in the 
case of 40MU260 (Dowd 1972). These floor sherds came from a variety of 
vessels, but the vast majority are plain, shell-tempered sherds typical 
of the Mississippian period. Identifiable vessel types include jars, 
bowls with crenulated rims, a hexagonal bowl, effigy vessels, and 
bottles. Some jars have strap handles and some have lug or notched lug 
handles. Some sherds have surface incising in an angular guilloche 
pattern. However, the majority of the sherds appear to be from large, 
plain, shell-tempered jars. A few sherds in this collection, 37 in 
total, have grog, limestone, or quartz tempering and textile or 
cordmarked impressed surfaces. These ceramics may represent an earlier 
Woodland occupation of the site, particularly since most were found in 
midden context or during surface collection. Diagnostic lithics, such 
as projectile points and blades, include Elk River, Morrow Mountain, 
Benton, Bakers Creek, Kanawha, Hardin Barbed, Guntersville, Lowe, and 
Swan Lake types and date from the Early Archaic through the Late 
Mississippian temporal periods. The majority are from Middle Archaic 
(roughly 5,500-3,000 B.C.) indicating earlier prehistoric occupations 
in addition to the primary Mississippian period occupation. This site 
likely has a historic component as well, and artifacts from the 
historic era might possibly have gotten mixed into the prehistoric 
features during construction activities. As these historic artifacts 
were associated and collected with the prehistoric artifacts during 
excavation, they have been included in this inventory. The ceramics 
include transfer-printed whiteware and saltglazed stoneware dating from 
roughly the mid-1800s into the early 1900s. One crown-cap style bottle 
fragment dates from 1892 or later.

Determinations Made by the University of Tennessee, Department of 
Anthropology

    Officials of the University of Tennessee, Department of 
Anthropology have determined that:

     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains 
described in this notice are Native American based on archeological 
context and osteological analysis.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains 
described in this notice represent the physical remains of 47 
individuals of Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 6,075 objects 
described in this notice 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.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), a relationship of shared 
group identity cannot be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and any 
present-day Indian Tribe.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(15), the land from which the 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed was not the tribal land of any present-day Indian Tribe.
     According to final judgments of the Indian Claims 
Commission or the Court of Federal Claims, the land from which the 
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects were 
removed is the aboriginal land of the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band 
of Cherokee Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the United Keetoowah 
Band of Cherokee Indians.
     Treaties, Acts of Congress, or Executive Orders, 
indicate that the land from which the Native American human remains 
and associated funerary objects were removed is the aboriginal land 
of the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The 
Chickasaw Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians 
in Oklahoma.
     Pursuant to 43 CFR 10.11(c)(1), the disposition of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects may be to the Cherokee 
Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and 
the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization 
not

[[Page 65740]]

identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control of 
these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request with information in support of the request to Dr. 
Robert Hinde, University of Tennessee, Office of the Provost, 527 Andy 
Holt Tower, Knoxville, TN 37996-0152, telephone (865) 974-2445, email 
[email protected] and [email protected], by January 22, 2019. After that date, 
if no additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of 
the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Cherokee 
Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the 
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma may proceed.
    The University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology is 
responsible for notifying the Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band of Cherokee 
Indians; The Chickasaw Nation; and the United Keetoowah Band of 
Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma that this notice has been published.

    Dated: November 28, 2018.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2018-27646 Filed 12-20-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P