[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 153 (Thursday, August 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54348-54349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17133]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036327; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: University of Georgia Laboratory 
of Archaeology, Athens, GA

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 University of Georgia Laboratory 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 Dade 
County, GA.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after September 11, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Dr. Amanda Roberts Thompson, University of Georgia 
Laboratory of Archaeology, 1125 E. Whitehall Road, Athens, GA 30605, 
telephone (706) 542-8373, 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 
University of Georgia Laboratory 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 University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology.

Description

    Ancestral remains representing, at minimum, 13 individuals were 
removed from 9DD25, the Tunacunnhee site, in Dade County, GA. This site 
is located near Trenton, GA, a few hundred yards east of Lookout Creek 
and several miles south of the junction of Lookout Creek and the 
Tennessee River. In 1973, these human remains were excavated during a 
University of Georgia (UGA) field school led by Joseph R. Caldwell and 
Richard W. Jefferies. All eight of the mounds at the Tunacunnhee site 
were tested during the 1973 field season, with a total surface area of 
8,000 feet was excavated. Since being removed, the collection has been 
housed at the University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology. The 304 
associated funerary objects consist of indigenous ceramics, lithics, 
copper plates, mica, copper and silver pan pipes, copper earspools, 
copper pin, copper and silver fragments, woven materials, burnt clay, 
faunal remains, drilled bear canines, drilled shark teeth, raptor 
talons, and bone beads.
    Ancestral remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were 
removed from site 9DD57, Dyar Rockshelter, in Dade County, GA, during a 
survey conducted by Bruce Smith in 1975. At the time the site was 
surveyed, a collection was made from the surface of the cave as well as 
from

[[Page 54349]]

test pits and areas just outside the cave. Since being removed, the 
collection has been housed at the University of Georgia Laboratory of 
Archaeology. No associated funerary objects are present.
    Ancestral remains representing, at minimum, one individual were 
removed from site 9DD35, Bone Cave, in Dade County, GA, during a survey 
conducted by Bruce Smith in 1975. At the time the site was surveyed, a 
collection was made from the surface of the site. Since being removed, 
the collection has been housed at the University of Georgia Laboratory 
of Archaeology. The human remains belong to an individual of 
indeterminate age and sex. No associated funerary objects are present.

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 and geographical.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the University of Georgia Laboratory of Archaeology has 
determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 17 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 304 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 Cherokee Nation; Eastern Band 
of Cherokee Indians; Kialegee Tribal Town; Poarch Band of Creek 
Indians; Shawnee Tribe; The Muscogee (Creek) Nation; Thlopthlocco 
Tribal Town; and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in 
Oklahoma.

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 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 September 11, 2023. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the University of 
Georgia Laboratory 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 University of Georgia 
Laboratory 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: August 2, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-17133 Filed 8-9-23; 8:45 am]
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