[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 87 (Friday, May 5, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29158-29160]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-09582]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0035778; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Mobile District, Mobile, AL

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile 
District, has completed an inventory of human remains and associated 
funerary objects and has determined that there is a cultural 
affiliation between the human remains and associated funerary objects 
and Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in this notice. The 
human remains and associated funerary objects were removed from Clay 
and Lowndes Counties, MS.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after June 5, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Ms. Alexandria Smith, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile 
District, 109 St. Joseph Street, P.O. Box 2288, Mobile, AL 36628-0001, 
telephone (251) 690-2728, email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published as part of the 
National Park Service's administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA. 
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District. The National Park 
Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice. 
Additional information on the determinations in this notice, including 
the results of consultation, can be found in the inventory or related 
records held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District.

[[Page 29159]]

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, 40 individuals were removed 
from Clay County, MS. The Kellogg Village site (22CL527) was located in 
the Divide Cut Section of the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway, and 
contained Middle Archaic, Woodland, and Mississippian components. The 
site was excavated by the Department of Anthropology, Mississippi State 
University under principal investigator James R. Atkinson and field 
director G. Gerald Berry, between June 29 and September 16, 1978. The 
age and sex of the individuals are undetermined. No known individuals 
were identified. The 391 associated funerary objects are 36 lots 
consisting of soil samples, one burned bone, 66 lots consisting of 
ceramics, 77 lots consisting of shells, 57 lots consisting of 
unmodified stones, 85 faunal remains, three intact vessels, four fired 
clay, five lots consisting of miscellaneous stone/chert, two lots 
consisting of mixed fill, 11 lithics, five beads, four shell gorgets, 
one lot consisting of stone/shell fill, one lot consisting of organics/
botanicals, four flotation samples, 11 projectile points, one sandstone 
cobble, one C-14 sample, one firecracked rock, five lots consisting of 
chipped/miscellaneous stones from pit fill, four lots consisting of 
burial fill, one groundstone, two conch shell dipper/cups, one fired 
clay ball, and two celts.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from Clay County, MS. The Yarborough Site (22CL814) is a small 
settlement with a midden area containing Late Gulf Formation Stage 
components, with evidence of a farmstead during the Late Mississippian, 
Sorrells Phase. The site was excavated by the Office of Archaeological 
Research, University of Alabama under the direction of Carey B. Oakley, 
principal investigator, and Carlos Solis, project director. A small 
number of human skeletal fragments were collected and at least one 
burial was designated. The age and sex of the individuals are 
undetermined. No known individuals were identified. The 10 associated 
funerary objects are three lots consisting of botanicals, five lots 
consisting of soil samples, one lot consisting of mixed stone, and one 
lot consisting of lithics.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 30 individuals were removed 
from Lowndes County, MS. The Shell Bluff site (22LO530) is a shell 
midden and base camp with Late Woodland and Miller III components. The 
site was excavated by the University of Southern Mississippi under 
principal investigators Drs. David Heisler and Robert Gilbert and field 
directors Thomas Padgett and Don Crusoe in July and August of 1979 and 
completed mid-October through late November 1979. The age and sex of 
the individuals are undetermined. No known individuals were identified. 
The 345 associated funerary objects are 64 lots consisting of ceramics, 
28 lots consisting of shells, 13 lots consisting of daub, 52 lots 
consisting of lithics, 78 lots consisting of soil samples, 36 lots 
consisting of faunal remains, two projectile points, one chert pebble, 
18 lots consisting of firecracked rock, six lots consisting of burial 
fill, three lots consisting of unsorted screen material, six pebbles, 
18 pollen samples, three C-14 samples, three fired clay, two lots 
consisting of grinding stone fragments, two lots consisting of ferrous 
sandstone, three chert cores, one lot consisting of unmodified rock, 
one hammerstone fragment, three sandstone, one pipe stem fragment, and 
one lot consisting of preform.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, nine individuals were 
removed from Lowndes County, MS. The Vaughn Mound site (22LO538) has 
Middle Archaic, Woodland, Miller III, and Miller IV components. The 
site was identified by Marc D. Rucker as part of a field survey and was 
excavated by the Mississippi State University's Department of 
Anthropology under Rucker's direction, with the assistance of James R. 
Atkinson and Michael D. Walls, over 10 weeks during the summer of 1973. 
The age and sex of the individuals are undetermined. No known 
individuals were identified. The 47 associated funerary objects are one 
lot consisting of firecracked rock, two lots consisting of daub, 14 
lots consisting of faunal remains, six lots consisting of shells, one 
lot consisting of sandstone, 12 lots consisting of soil samples, three 
pebbles, two lithics, two clay, one possible scooping tool, one 
sandstone grinding stone, one shell ornament, and one lot consisting of 
unmodified rock.
    Human remains representing, at a minimum, 15 individuals were 
removed from Lowndes County, MS. The Tibbee Creek site (22LO600) has 
components from the early Gulf Formational through the Mississippian 
with the most concentrated occupation during the late Woodland Miller 
III phase. The site was excavated by the Department of Anthropology, 
Mississippi State University under the direction of Crawford Blakeman, 
Principal Investigator, and John O'Hear, Project Director and later 
Principal Investigator, beginning in November 1976. The site was 
completed in August 1977. The age and sex of the individuals are 
undetermined. No known individuals were identified. The 189 associated 
funerary objects are 43 lots consisting of faunal remains, 21 lots 
consisting of lithics, 31 lots consisting of ceramics, 46 lots 
consisting of shells, two lots consisting of firecracked rock, eight 
lots consisting of charcoal samples, six lots consisting of unmodified 
stones, two lots consisting of screened fill, one projectile point, 
three lots consisting of clay, one seed/corn cob, one chert drill, one 
stone sphere, one bone ornament, four flotation samples, one lot 
consisting of pit fill, two pebbles, one grooved stone, one sandstone, 
one acorn, seven lots consisting of unsorted fill, one turtle shell, 
one organic material, one wood/charcoal flotation, one bead, and one 
drilled bear canine.

Cultural Affiliation

    The human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice 
are connected to one or more identifiable earlier groups, tribes, 
peoples, or cultures. There is a relationship of shared group identity 
between the identifiable earlier groups, tribes, peoples, or cultures 
and one or more Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. The 
following types of information were used to reasonably trace the 
relationship: archeological, geographical, historical, other relevant 
information, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 97 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 982 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.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the human remains and associated funerary 
objects described in this notice and The Chickasaw Nation and The 
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the

[[Page 29160]]

Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations identified in this notice.
    2. Any lineal descendant, Indian Tribe, or Native Hawaiian 
organization not identified in this notice who shows, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that the requestor is a lineal 
descendant or a culturally affiliated Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian 
organization.
    Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects 
in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after June 5, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers, Mobile District, must determine the most appropriate 
requestor prior to repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the 
human remains and associated funerary objects are considered a single 
request and not competing requests. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 
Mobile District, is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribes identified in this notice.
    Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 
25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.9, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: April 25, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-09582 Filed 5-4-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P