[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 150 (Monday, August 5, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38045-38047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-16686]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0028455; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology, Andover, MA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology (Peabody) 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 a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and present-day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal 
descendants or 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 the Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the lineal descendants, Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian 
organizations stated in this notice may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or 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 the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology at the address in this notice by September 4, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Ryan Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, 
Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, telephone (978) 
749-4490, email [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 Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology, Andover, MA. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from four sites in FL.
    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.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology 
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the Seminole 
Tribe of Florida (previously listed as the Seminole Tribe of Florida 
(Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations)); and 
The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.
    The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas (previously listed as the 
Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas); Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town; 
Caddo Nation of Oklahoma; Catawba Indian Nation (aka Catawba Tribe of 
South Carolina); Cherokee Nation; Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana; 
Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; Jena 
Band of Choctaw Indians; Kialegee Tribal Town; Miccosukee Tribe of 
Indians; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Poarch Band of Creeks 
(previously listed as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama); The 
Chickasaw Nation; The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; The Muscogee (Creek) 
Nation; Thlopthlocco Tribal Town; Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe; and the 
United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma were invited to 
consult but did not participate.
    Hereafter, all the Indian Tribes listed in this section are 
referred to as ``The Consulted and Invited Tribes.''

History and Description of the Remains

    In January 1920, human remains representing, at minimum, nine 
individuals were removed by Fred Alanson Luce and his son Stanley 
Eldridge Luce from the Macey Mound (8OR10313) in Orange County, FL. 
Luce described the site as located on the Macey farm and the shores of 
Lake Butler (actually Lake Tibet-Butler), near the community of Zantee 
(a railroad siding and turpentine still that was all but defunct in 
1920). The excavations are documented in a 215 page journal prepared by 
Fred Luce dated 1940, presumably based on notes taken in the field. 
Luce also made photographs, some artifact sketches, and sketch maps and 
plans of the excavation, all of which are on file at the Robert S. 
Peabody Institute of Archaeology. The collection was originally 
deposited by Luce at the

[[Page 38046]]

Haverhill Historical Society ``The Buttonwoods,'' but was transferred 
to the Peabody in 1995. Examination by physical anthropologists Michael 
Gibbon and Harley Erickson found that the human remains represent two 
adults of indeterminate sex; four adult males; one adult, possibly 
female; and two juveniles of indeterminate sex. No known individuals 
were identified. The 1,685 associated funerary objects are one charcoal 
sample; one whelk shell columella; one shell bead; one stone plummet; 
nine quartz pebbles; three chert bifaces; one sand sample; and 1,668 
pottery sherds.
    Luce states that the mound was originally eight feet high and 
around seven yards in diameter, with a narrow trench connecting the 
mound to the lake shore, possibly a linear earthwork (which would not 
be uncommon for the area around Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee 
River). Luce mentions a great deal of human bone and some artifacts on 
the mound surface resulting from the earlier leveling work, and that 
the property owners had found one complete pottery vessel during 
earlier digging. The mound was constructed from very white sand. The 
descriptions of the burials suggest secondary interment, as well as 
some considerable disturbance of the mound in the past. Luce describes 
at least three burned areas that included human bone, charcoal and 
pottery. One of these, found outside the grid, on the east side of the 
mound, could be a pottery cache. Most of the burials and other features 
were found from near the mound surface to around 40 inches below 
surface; it seems that much of the material encountered above 30 inches 
had been disturbed in the past, with a few intact burials still 
preserved deeper in the mound.
    The ceramic inventory from Macey Mound is dominated by spiculate 
wares. Based on the pottery, the Macey Mound likely dates to the Late 
Woodland Period, circa A.D. 500-1000. Cultural resource management 
investigations being conducted at the Macey Mound in 2019 have 
identified European artifacts, indicating occupation and use of the 
site during the seventeenth century as well.
    At an unknown time, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed by W.E. Snyder from a site in Fernandina, 
Amelia Island, Nassau County, FL. The Peabody received the human 
remains and associated funerary objects from Snyder on October 1, 1890. 
Examination of the human remains indicate that they represent one adult 
of indeterminate age and sex. No known individual was identified. The 
six associated funerary objects are stamped pottery sherds of either 
the Lamar or San Marcos series. The presence of the six decorated 
pottery sherds, all late types, indicates a date after A.D. 1400, 
perhaps as recent as seventeenth or early eighteenth centuries.
    In 1903, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed by Clarence B. Moore from an unknown site in Florida. The 
catalog entries indicate that the human remains and associated funerary 
objects were removed from an archeological site in Florida by Moore 
during his 1903 expedition to the state, which included explorations in 
Calhoun, Citrus, Franklin, Gadsden, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jackson, 
Lafayette, Levy, Liberty, and Pasco Counties (based on Moore's 
fieldnotes at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell 
University Library). Moore transferred these human remains and funerary 
objects to the Phillips Academy Department of Archaeology (now known as 
the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology) sometime shortly after 
its opening in 1903. Physical anthropologist Michael Gibbon identified 
the human remains as those of a newborn or infant of indeterminate sex. 
No known individual was identified. The three associated funerary 
objects are one lot of medium sized shell beads and fragmentary beads, 
including one glass bead; one lot of small and medium shell beads and 
fragments, including flat, tubular, and round shapes; and one lot of 
medium shell beads and fragments, including flat, tubular, and round 
beads. The glass bead indicates a date in the sixteenth through 
eighteenth century or later.
    In 1894, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual was 
removed by Clarence B. Moore from the Mound near Peter's Creek, Green 
Cove Spring, Clay County, FL. Moore transferred these human remains and 
funerary objects to the Phillips Academy Department of Archaeology (now 
known as the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology) sometime 
shortly after its opening in 1903. Moore excavated the Mound near 
Peter's Creek (8CL6) in 1894 and reports on it in his 1894 publication, 
Certain Sand Mounds of the St. John's River, Florida, Part II. He 
describes the site, located near Green Cove Springs, as originally 4 
feet high and 60 feet in diameter, and notes that, ``in occasional 
pockets of pink sand were many shell beads with human remains.'' A note 
in the Peabody accession ledger for Cat. # 40361 reads, ``3\1/2\ feet 
down in sand colored pink with hematite, with human remains. Mound near 
Peter's Creek.'' The human remains are extremely fragmentary. No known 
individual was identified. The one funerary object is one lot of medium 
sized shell beads and bead fragments, including flat, tubular, and 
round shell beads. Moore mentions that stamped pottery was dominant at 
the site, suggesting a St. Johns II period date (A.D. 750 to 1600).
    Based on geographical, archeological, oral tradition, and 
historical lines of evidence, as well as expert opinion, the Miccosukee 
Tribe of Indians; Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously listed as the 
Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & 
Tampa Reservations)); and The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma are 
culturally affiliated with the human remains from Macey Mound, 
Fernandina-Amelia Island, Unknown Florida Site #1, and the Mound near 
Peter's Creek.

Determinations Made by the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology

    Officials of the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of 12 individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 1,695 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), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the 
Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; Seminole Tribe of Florida (previously 
listed as the Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big Cypress, Brighton, 
Hollywood & Tampa Reservations)); and The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma.

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or 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 Ryan Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology, Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, 
telephone (978) 749-4490, email [email protected], by September 4, 
2019]. After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary

[[Page 38047]]

objects to the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians; Seminole Tribe of Florida 
(previously listed as the Seminole Tribe of Florida (Dania, Big 
Cypress, Brighton, Hollywood & Tampa Reservations)); and The Seminole 
Nation of Oklahoma may proceed.
    The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology is responsible for 
notifying The Consulted and Invited Tribes that this notice has been 
published.

    Dated: July 16, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-16686 Filed 8-2-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P