[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 159 (Friday, August 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56657-56658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17789]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036386; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Texas Department of 
Transportation, Austin, TX

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 Texas Department of Transportation 
(TxDOT) 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 
Anderson County, TX.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after September 18, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Scott Pletka, TxDOT, 6230 East Stassney Lane, Austin, TX 
78701, telephone (512) 865-8694, 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 TxDOT. 
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 TxDOT.

Description

    In 2015 and 2016, archeologists working on behalf of TxDOT removed 
human remains and associated funerary objects from 32 burials at the A. 
S. Mann site (41AN201) in Anderson County, Texas. The burials contained 
fragmentary physical remains belonging to 12 juveniles, six adult 
males, four adult females, and 12 adults of indeterminate sex. The 
1,125 associated funerary objects include one antler fragment, 194 
arrow points or arrow point fragments (including four Bassett points, 
three untyped arrow point fragments, one Harrell point, 165 Perdiz 
points, seven Perdiz Side-notched points, three Triangular points, 10 
Turney points, and one Washita point), three pieces of bentonite, one 
beveled edge tool, nine bifaces, 22 bottles (including eight Hume 
Engraved, one Hume-Poynor Engraved, one Killough Pinched, one Mann 
Punctated, 10 Poynor Engraved, and one untyped plain ware), 14 bowls 
(including two Hood Engraved, one Mann Punctated, one Patton Engraved, 
three Poynor Engraved, one untyped fine ware, two untyped plain ware, 
and four untyped utility ware), 101 carinated bowls (including six 
Patton Engraved, three Poynor Brushed, 87 Poynor Engraved, one Taylor 
Engraved, two untyped plain ware, and two untyped specimens), two 
celts, 11 pieces of charcoal, one piece of red clay, 17 pieces of 
lithic debitage, 12 Hood Engraved effigy bowls, one end scraper, one 
end-side scraper, two heavy fraction flotation samples from burial 
fill, three pieces of hematite, 35 jars (including nine Bullard 
Brushed, 11 Killough Pinched, six Mann Punctated, one Maydelle Incised, 
two Patton Engraved, three Poynor Engraved, one untyped plain ware, and 
two untyped utility ware), one piece of lead, two light fraction 
flotation samples from burial fill, one marine shell conch columella, 
four pebbles (including three polished and one unmodified), 10 elbow 
pipes or elbow pipe fragments (including five untyped, one untyped rim 
sherd, and four Neches), one untyped utility ware rattle bowl, two 
unidentified rodent bones, 385 pottery sherds (including 42 Bullard 
Brushed, 168 decorated, 40 plain, 38 Poynor Engraved, 15 untyped 
specimen, and 82 untyped utility ware), one silver box with Spanish 
insignia, 68 samples of burial fill, one ferruginous sandstone tool 
fragment, one turquoise pendant, one unidentified botanical remain, one 
unidentified faunal bone, one piece of unidentified metal, two pieces 
of unidentified minerals, one piece of unidentified pottery, and 212 
samples of fill from within the vessels.

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: anthropological, archeological, biological, geographical, 
historical, and expert opinion.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, TxDOT has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 34 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 1,125 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 Caddo 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 
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 18, 2023. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, TxDOT 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. TxDOT is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the 
Indian Tribe identified in this notice.

[[Page 56658]]

    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 9, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-17789 Filed 8-17-23; 8:45 am]
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