[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 129 (Friday, July 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43385-43386]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14390]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036140; 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: In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology 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 
Barnstable and Plymouth Counties, MA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after August 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Ryan J. Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, 
Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, telephone (978) 
749-4490, 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 
Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology. 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 Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology.

Description

    Two associated funerary objects were removed from the Corn Hill 
site (19-BN-144/145) in Truro, Barnstable County, MA. In 2023, the 
Buttonwoods Museum, Haverhill MA, transferred two red ochre samples to 
the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology to facilitate 
repatriation. Fred Luce collected the samples during his excavation of 
the site in 1915. The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology 
previously published a Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal 
Register (70 FR 16839-16840, April 1, 2005) for human remains and 
associated funerary objects from Corn Hill, and they have already been 
repatriated. The two associated funerary objects listed in this notice 
are two red ochre samples that most likely are associated with the 
repatriated human remains and funerary objects.
    One associated funerary object was removed from the Taylor Hill 
site (19-BN-106) in Wellfleet, Barnstable County, MA. In 2023, during 
preparation for a building renovation, personnel at the Robert S. 
Peabody Institute of Archaeology identified a large stone axe from the 
Taylor Hill site; a note with the axe indicates a funerary association. 
The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology previously published a 
Notice of Inventory Completion in the Federal Register (70 FR 16839-
16840, April 1, 2005) for human remains and associated funerary objects 
from Taylor Hill, and they have already been repatriated. The one 
associated funerary object listed in this notice is a stone axe that 
most likely is associated with the repatriated human remains and 
funerary objects.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, one individual were removed 
from the Titicut site in Plymouth County, MA. In 2022, during an 
inventory, personnel at the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology 
identified additional human remains and associated funerary objects 
from the Titicut site, which had been excavated

[[Page 43386]]

by institute staff members in 1947. The human remains of one individual 
were reported in a previous Notice of Inventory Completion published in 
the Federal Register (60 FR 8733, February 15, 1995), and they have 
already been repatriated. The human remains listed in this notice 
consist of one tooth. The one associated funerary object are the 
remains of a dog that was interred near the individual.

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: geographical, archeological, linguistic, oral 
traditional, and historical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of one individual of Native American ancestry.
     The four 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 Mashpee Wampanoag Indian 
Tribe, and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).

Requests for Repatriation

    Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and 
associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the 
Responsible Official identified in ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation 
may be submitted by:
    1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes identified in this notice 
and, if joined to a request from one or more of the Indian Tribes, the 
Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation, a non-federally recognized Indian 
group.
    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 August 7, 2023. If 
competing requests for repatriation are received, the Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology 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 Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology 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: June 28, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-14390 Filed 7-6-23; 8:45 am]
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