[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 9 (Friday, January 12, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2245-2247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00529]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037232; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Inventory Completion: Cincinnati Museum Center, 
Cincinnati, OH

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 Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC) 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 Butler and Hamilton 
Counties, OH.

DATES: Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects in this notice may occur on or after February 12, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Tyler Swinney, Cincinnati Museum Center, 1301 Western 
Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45203, telephone (513) 287-7000 Ext. 7287, 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 
Cincinnati Museum Center. 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 Cincinnati 
Museum Center.

Description

    Human remains representing, at minimum, five individuals were 
removed from site 33Bu297 (Watson Gravel) in Butler County, OH. The 
site was excavated by Bob Koth, most likely with assistance from 
Cincinnati Museum of Natural History archeology personnel, during the 
summer of 1973 and subsequently donated to the museum in October 1973. 
A Fort Ancient determination for these ancestral Native American human 
remains is based on the presence of associated diagnostic shell-
tempered pottery. The 49 associated funerary objects are one small 
shell-tempered jar with three-line guilloche-incised neck, two copper-
stained bi-pointed bone pins/needles, 17 eroded sheet copper earspool 
fragments, one shell disc bead, one tee-shaped bone awl, one shell-
tempered decorated rim sherd, one freshwater mussel shell, one flint 
flake, one soil sample, six unburned animal bones, and 17 glacial 
pebbles.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, three individuals were

[[Page 2246]]

removed from site 33Ha124(38) (Perin Village). The site was surface 
collected by Cincinnati Museum of Natural History archeology personnel 
in 1975 following disturbances associated with a golf course expansion. 
A Late Woodland determination for these ancestral Native American human 
remains is based on proximity to nearby sites and comparison to 
diagnostic lithic artifacts recovered from the site during earlier 
1960s surveys. The nine associated funerary objects are one polished 
proximal deer phalanx and eight unburned animal bones.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 23 individuals were removed 
from site 33Ha243(157) (Sayler Park Mound) in Hamilton County, Ohio. 
The site was excavated from 1955-1957 by Dr. James Kellar on behalf of 
the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History prior to housing development. 
An Early Woodland determination for these ancestral Native American 
human remains is based on mound dimensions, mortuary behavior (log 
tombs), and associated diagnostic objects. The 83 associated funerary 
objects are one bear effigy tubular pipe, one bird effigy pipe, one 
banded slate expanding center gorget, 13 copper bracelets, three copper 
bracelet fragments, one copper ring fragment, one unburned split bone 
awl, one antler billet, one sandstone slot abrader, five barrel-shaped 
marine shell beads, 10 lots of marine shell beads and fragments, 28 
botanical/soil samples, one mending unburned deer humerus, 13 untyped 
chert bifaces, one limestone-tempered body sherd, one freshwater 
bivalve shell fragment, and one modified sedimentary stone.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 19 individuals were removed 
from site 33Ha368 (Luebkeman Mound) in Hamilton County, Ohio. The site 
was surface collected by Miami Purchase Association for Historic 
Preservation (MPAHP) archeologists in 1980 after the mound has been 
extensively looted and destroyed in 1978 and all MPAHP collections were 
subsequently transferred to the museum in 1990. An Early or Middle 
Woodland determination for these ancestral Native American human 
remains is based on mound dimensions and Ohio Archaeological Inventory 
documentation for the site. The 86 associated funerary objects include 
one lot of unburned animal bone, one lot of worked animal bone, one lot 
of saw-cut animal bone, one chert biface fragment, one lot of 
unmodified gastropods, one lot of unmodified freshwater bivalve shells, 
and one lot of worked freshwater bivalve shell fragments that were 
surface collected along with ancestral remains.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, six individuals were 
removed from site 33Ha400 (Schomaker Site) in Hamilton County, Ohio. 
The site was surveyed by Miami Purchase Association for Historic 
Preservation (MPAHP) in 1978; excavated by amateur archeologists Mike 
Sedler and Tom Stumpf in 1984-1985; and, surveyed by the museum in 1985 
during the Great Miami River Survey, which expanded to unit excavations 
in 1986-1987. A Fort Ancient determination for these ancestral Native 
American human remains is based on circular village orientation and 
wall-trench domestic architecture, as well as the presence of 
diagnostic shell-tempered ceramics and triangular arrow points. The 13 
associated funerary objects are unburned animal bone; however, Tom 
Stumpf apparently sold a human effigy smoking pipe to Jan Sorgenfri 
before Mike Sedler donated ancestral Native American human remains in 
his collection to the museum in 1991. The current location of the human 
effigy smoking pipe is unknown.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, 12 individuals were removed 
from site 33Ha586 (Driving Range Site) in Hamilton County, Ohio. The 
site was surveyed and excavated by Kemron Environmental Services in 
1992-1993 as part of a Metropolitan Sewer District project and 
recovered cultural material was subsequently deposited at the museum in 
1997. Late Archaic, Woodland, and Fort Ancient determinations for these 
ancestral Native American human remains are based on the presence of 
diagnostic shell- and rock-tempered ceramics, C14 dates, and diagnostic 
stone tools characteristic of the Late Archaic period in southwest 
Ohio. The 93 associated funerary objects include 17 soil samples, a 
suspected toolkit (consisting of two bifaces, 10 burned limestone 
pieces, one sandstone abrader, one retouched uniface, two mending 
turtle shell fragments, one Merom cluster projectile point, 16 
retouched flakes, one McWhinney cluster projectile point, three chert 
flakes, and three unmodified freshwater bivalve shells with one 
associated soil sample), 28 unburned animal bones, one bone awl distal 
tip, one chert flake, one shell-tempered cord marked body sherd, and 
four burned animal bones.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were 
removed from site 33Ha588 (Martin Field Site) in Hamilton County, Ohio. 
The site was partially excavated by Gray and Pape, Inc., in 1993 as 
part of a Metropolitan Sewer District project and recovered cultural 
material was subsequently deposited at the museum in 1996 and 
accessioned in 2002. Although these ancestral Native American human 
remains were recovered from highly disturbed contexts, a Late Archaic 
period determination is probable based on diagnostic stone tools 
(McWhinney cluster projectile points) recovered from nearby midden 
deposits and features. The two associated funerary objects are one 
burned Ordovician trilobite fossil and one chert flake.
    Human remains representing, at minimum, two individuals were 
removed from site 33Ha641 (Clear Creek Site) in Hamilton County, Ohio. 
Cincinnati Museum Center conducted salvage excavations at the site in 
1994 after the site had been graded in preparation for recreational 
soccer fields and community park. A Fort Ancient determination for 
these ancestral Native American human remains is based on the presence 
of associated diagnostic shell-tempered pottery and triangular arrow 
points. 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: anthropological, archeological, folkloric, geographic, 
historical, linguistic, and oral traditional.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, the Cincinnati Museum Center has determined that:
     The human remains described in this notice represent the 
physical remains of 72 individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 335 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

[[Page 2247]]

this notice and the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; 
Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma; Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; Ottawa 
Tribe of Oklahoma; Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma; Shawnee Tribe; 
The Osage Nation; and the Wyandotte Nation.

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 February 12, 2024. 
If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Cincinnati 
Museum Center 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 Cincinnati Museum Center 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: January 5, 2024.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2024-00529 Filed 1-11-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P