[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 242 (Tuesday, December 19, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 87809-87810]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27794]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037087; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: South Carolina Institute of 
Archaeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, 
SC

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 South Carolina Institute of Archaeology 
and Anthropology (SCIAA) 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 Pickens County, SC.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after January 18, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Nina Schreiner, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and 
Anthropology (SCIAA), College of Arts and Sciences, University of South 
Carolina, 1321 Pendleton Street, Columbia, SC 29208, 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 
SCIAA. 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 SCIAA.

Description

    In 1968, human remains were removed from site 38PN1, Fort Prince 
George, Pickens County, SC, by Mr. John D. Combes of SCIAA, during the 
Keowee Toxaway Reservoir salvage excavations conducted for Duke Power 
Company of Charlotte, NC. These individuals were listed in a Notice of 
Inventory Completion published in the Federal Register on July 7, 2023 
(88 FR 4204-4205) and have been repatriated. Subsequently, one 
associated funerary object was discovered in SCIAA collections, 
consisting of one lot of faunal material.
    In 1967, human remains representing, at minimum, 20 individuals 
were removed from site 38PN2, I.C. Few, Pickens County, SC, by Dr. 
Robert T. Grange, Jr. of the Department of Anthropology, University of 
South Florida, Tampa, during the Keowee Toxaway Reservoir salvage 
excavations conducted by SCIAA for Duke Power Company of Charlotte, NC. 
The five associated funerary objects are one lot consisting of shell 
material, one lot consisting of faunal material, one lot consisting of 
lithic material, one lot of charcoal, and one lot consisting of ceramic 
material.
    In 1967, human remains representing, at minimum, one individual 
were removed from site 38PN4, Rock Turtle, Pickens County, SC, by Dr. 
William E. Edwards of SCIAA, during the Keowee Toxaway Reservoir 
salvage excavations conducted by SCIAA for Duke Power Company of 
Charlotte, NC. The six associated funerary objects are one lot 
consisting of metal material, one lot consisting of ceramic material, 
one lot consisting of glass material, one lot consisting of lithic 
material, one lot consisting of soil, and one lot consisting of 
charcoal.
    In 1967, one associated funerary object was removed from site 
38PN34, the Pot Site, Pickens County, SC, by Mr. John D. Combes of 
SCIAA, during the Keowee Toxaway Reservoir salvage excavations 
conducted by SCIAA for Duke Power Company of Charlotte, NC. The one 
associated funerary object is one lot consisting of ceramic material.

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 information, archeological information, 
and historical information.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the SCIAA has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 21 individuals of Native American ancestry.

[[Page 87810]]

     The 13 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; 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 January 18, 2024. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the SCIAA 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 SCIAA is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to 
the Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations 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: December 8, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-27794 Filed 12-18-23; 8:45 am]
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