[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 71 (Thursday, April 15, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19899-19900]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-07700]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0031686; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Temple University, Philadelphia, 
PA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Temple University 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 Temple University. If no additional requestors come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to the

[[Page 19900]]

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 Temple University at the address in this 
notice by May 17, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Leslie Reeder-Myers, Temple University, 1115 Polett Walk, 
Gladfelter Hall Room 204, Philadelphia, PA 19122, telephone (215) 204-
1418, 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 Temple University, 
Philadelphia, PA. The human remains and associated funerary objects 
were removed from the Abbott Farm National Historical Landmark, Mercer 
County, NJ.
    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 was made by the Temple 
University professional staff in consultation with representatives of 
the Delaware Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the 
Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Wisconsin (hereafter referred to as ``The 
Tribes'').

History and Description of the Remains

    Between 1963 and 1964, human remains representing, at minimum, 
eight individuals were removed from present-day Abbott Farm National 
Historical District (AFNHD) in Mercer County, NJ, by avocational 
archeologist Andrew Stanzeski. Stanzeski's excavations were part of a 
larger project led by Janet Pollack near the Watson House, which was 
located on Rowan Farm, now part of the AFNHD. Stanzeski gave these 
burials and associated funerary objects to the Temple Anthropology 
Laboratory and Museum at an unknown date. Eight sets of human remains 
were recovered from five separate burials. The human remains belong to 
three adult males, two adult females, one child less than 39 months of 
age, and one child approximately 5 years of age, and one individual of 
unknown age and sex. No known individuals were identified. The nine 
associated funerary objects are: Two lots of faunal remains, one lot of 
worked stone flakes, two lots of incised coarse earthenware, three 
worked stones (two black, one red), and one individual incised 
earthenware sherd.
    The AFNHD is located on the Delaware River flood basin and terrace 
along Watson's Creek, about 3 miles south of Trenton, in Hamilton 
Township, Mercer County, NJ. The site was periodically occupied from 
the Archaic period to the present, but the assemblage of human skeletal 
remains at Temple University dates to the Late Woodland period (A.D. 
900-1600). According to the original excavation notes, the remains of 
the eight individuals started to appear around 38-46 centimeters below 
the surface, beneath the second humus layer.
    Based on geographic, ethnographic, and historic information, the 
AFNHD lies within the territory of the Delaware Tribes. The 
archeological evidence provided by the site is consistent with the use 
of the area by the Delaware Tribes and demonstrates cultural continuity 
throughout the Woodland period. In addition, linguistic, folkloric, and 
oral traditional information show a relationship of shared group 
identity between the Delaware Tribes and the earlier Woodland Period 
group, as well as established kinship ties between the members of the 
Delaware Tribes and the 17th/18th century Delaware residents of the 
Abbott Farm vicinity.

Determinations Made by Temple University

    Officials of Temple University have determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of eight individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the nine 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 Tribes.

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 Leslie Reeder-Myers, Temple University, 1115 
Polett Walk, Gladfelter Hall Room 204, Philadelphia, PA 19122, 
telephone (215) 204-1418, email [email protected], by May 
17, 2021. After that date, if no additional requestors have come 
forward, transfer of control of the human remains and associated 
funerary objects to The Tribes may proceed.
    Temple University is responsible for notifying The Tribes that this 
notice has been published.

    Dated: April 6, 2021.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2021-07700 Filed 4-14-21; 8:45 am]
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