[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 170 (Tuesday, September 3, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46037-46038]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-18861]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0028652; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology (Peabody) has 
completed an inventory of human remains, 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 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 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 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 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 October 3, 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 under 
the control of the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Andover, 
MA. The human remains were removed from four unknown sites in eastern 
Massachusetts.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative

[[Page 46038]]

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. 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 Robert 
S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology professional staff in consultation 
with representatives of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (previously listed 
as the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc.) and the Wampanoag 
Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). The Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, 
a non-federally recognized Indian group, also participated.
    Hereafter, all Indian Tribes and groups are referred to as ``The 
Consulted Indian Tribes and Groups''.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1992, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed by archeologist Douglas Jordan from Unknown Massachusetts 
Site #1 and transferred to the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology (Cat. No. 90.116.1). The only information available was 
that the human remains were from eastern Massachusetts. Jordan (1925-
2006) conducted archeological research in Massachusetts, Florida, and 
Connecticut, and served as Connecticut's state archeologist. The human 
remains from this site and Unknown Massachusetts Site #2, described 
below, were transferred to the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology to facilitate repatriation. Examination by physical 
anthropologist Michael Gibbons found that the human remains belong to 
an adult male. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects were present. Gibbons estimated that 600 years or more 
had elapsed since death.
    In 1992, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed by archeologist Douglas Jordan from Unknown Massachusetts 
Site #2 and transferred to the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology (Cat. No. 90.116.2). A note in the associated files written 
by the late Eugene Winter, long-time volunteer at the Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology, states that the human remains originated with 
Ernest E. Tyzzer, who passed them on to Jordan with other human remains 
from Maine. Tyzzer (1875-1965) was a physician, pathologist, and 
parasitologist at Harvard University and an avocational archeologist; 
he conducted archeological research in Massachusetts and Maine. In the 
1990s, Peabody staff determined that the individual was most likely 
from eastern Massachusetts. Examination by physical anthropologist 
Michael Gibbons found that the human remains belong to a juvenile of 
indeterminate sex. No known individuals were identified. No associated 
funerary objects were present.
    On an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed by Ernest E. Tyzzer from Unknown Massachusetts 
Site #3. The human remains were transferred to the Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology (Cat. No. 262/492) on May 5, 1968 by the 
estate of Ernest E. Tyzzer. The only information known about the human 
remains is that they are from eastern Massachusetts. Examination by 
physical anthropologist Michael Gibbons found that the human remains 
belong to an adult male. No known individuals were identified. No 
associated funerary objects were present. Gibbons estimated that 400 
years or more had elapsed since death.
    On an unknown date, human remains representing, at minimum, one 
individual were removed by Ernest E. Tyzzer from Unknown Massachusetts 
Site #4. The human remains were transferred to the Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology (Cat. No. 262/2663 and 262/2664) on May 5, 
1968 by the estate of Ernest E. Tyzzer. The only information known 
about the human remains is that they are from eastern Massachusetts. 
Examination by physical anthropologist Michael Gibbons found that the 
human remains belong to an adult male, 20-25 years old. No known 
individuals were identified. No associated funerary objects were 
present. Gibbons estimated that 500 years or more had elapsed since 
death.
    Sites in eastern Massachusetts lie within the historically 
documented territory of the Wampanoag (see Frank Gouldsmith Speck's 
1928 monograph, ``Territorial Subdivisions and Boundaries of the 
Wampanoag, Massachusett, and Nauset Indians,'' Indian Notes and 
Monographs No. 44, 1928). Linguistically, this area is within the so-
called n-dialect shared by Massachusett, Wampanoag, and Pokanoket 
speakers (see map and discussion in Kathleen J. Bragdon's 2009 book, 
Native Peoples of Southern New England, 1650-1775, pages 22-23). 
Sociopolitical and economic patterns in the coastal area of Rhode 
Island and Massachusetts were established by the late Woodland period 
circa A.D. 1000, and the coastal groups in this area are likely the 
ancestors of the Wampanoag people encountered by the English in the 
seventeenth century. Archeology, ethno-history, linguistics, and oral 
history provide multiple lines of evidence that demonstrate 
longstanding ties between the Wampanoag and archeological sites in 
eastern Massachusetts, and affirm affiliation with the human remains 
described here.

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 four individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     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 Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (previously 
listed as the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribal Council, Inc.); Wampanoag 
Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and, if joined, the Assonet Band of the 
Wampanoag Nation, a non-federally recognized Indian group.

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 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 October 3, 2019. After that date, if no 
additional requestors have come forward, transfer of control of the 
human remains to The Consulted Indian Tribes and Groups (if the Indian 
group is joined to the request of one or both of the Consulted Indian 
Tribes) may proceed.
    The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology is responsible for 
notifying The Consulted Indian Tribes and Groups that this notice has 
been published.

    Dated: August 6, 2019.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2019-18861 Filed 8-30-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P