Notice of Inventory Completion: Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology, Andover, MA, 21881-21882 [2020-08320]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 76 (Monday, April 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21881-21882]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08320]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0030081; 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: The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology has completed 
an inventory of human remains and associated funerary objects, in 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian 
organizations, and has determined that there is a cultural affiliation 
between the human remains and associated funerary objects and present-
day Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations. Lineal descendants 
or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization 
not identified in this notice that wish to request transfer of control 
of these human remains and associated funerary objects should submit a 
written request to the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology. If 
no additional requestors come forward, transfer of control of the human 
remains and associated funerary objects to the lineal descendants, 
Indian Tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations stated in this notice 
may proceed.

DATES: Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or 
Native Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology at the address in this notice by May 20, 2020.

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

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is here given in accordance with the 
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 
U.S.C. 3003, of the completion of an inventory of human remains and 
associated funerary objects under the control of the Robert S. Peabody 
Institute of Archaeology, Andover, MA. The human remains and associated 
funerary objects were removed from the Lowlands site (28ME1), also 
known as Abbott Farm, Trenton, Mercer County, NJ.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Consultation

    A detailed assessment of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects was made by the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology 
professional

[[Page 21882]]

staff in consultation with representatives of the Delaware Nation, 
Oklahoma and the Delaware Tribe of Indians.

History and Description of the Remains

    In 1891 and 1892, human remains representing, at minimum, five 
individuals were removed by Ernest Volk during excavations at the 
lowlands village and Lalor Field in Mercer County, NJ, which today form 
part of the Abbott Farm National Historic Landmark. Volk (1845-1919) 
was a German archeologist who came to the United States in 1867, and 
worked for Frederic Ward Putnam of the Harvard Peabody Museum of 
Archaeology and Ethnology. Volk worked closely with Charles Conrad 
Abbott, and focused much of his 22 year-long investigation on 
components of the Abbott Farm site, including the ``Lowlands,'' and 
other sites of the Delaware Valley. Volk's work was detailed in The 
Archaeology of the Delaware Valley (1911). The glacial deposits, known 
as the Trenton Gravels, figured prominently in his ideas about the 
earliest settlement of the Americas. It is unclear how some of Volk's 
collections might have come to the Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology, though possibly via Frederic Ward Putnam, who was 
associated with curator Warren K. Moorehead and honorary directory 
Charles Peabody during the early twentieth century. The collection at 
RSPIA was not accessioned or cataloged until recently. Examination by 
physical anthropologists Michael Gibbons and Harley Erikson identified 
a minimum of five individuals: Two adult females, one sub-adult female, 
and two individuals of indeterminate sex and age. No known individuals 
were identified. The 218 associated funerary objects are 12 mica 
fragments; 10 wood fragments (some have been burned); one shell 
fragment; three unmodified stone fragments; 13 burned unidentified bone 
fragments; 32 stone fragments; one bone fragment; 102 chipped stone 
fragments; 43 ceramic sherds; and one triangular projectile point.
    Geographic affiliation is consistent with the historically 
documented territory of the Delaware Tribes (also called the Lenape). 
Archeological evidence is consistent with documented use of the area by 
the Delaware Tribes. Linguistic, historical, and oral traditional 
information provide additional lines of evidence of a shared group 
identity between the Delaware Tribes and the Lowlands site at Abbott 
Farm.

Determinations Made by the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology

    Officials of the Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology have 
determined that:
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described 
in this notice represent the physical remains of five individuals of 
Native American ancestry.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(A), the 218 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.
     Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), there is a relationship of 
shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary objects and the Delaware 
Nation, Oklahoma; Delaware Tribe of Indians; and the Stockbridge Munsee 
Community, Wisconsin (hereafter referred to as ``The Tribes'').

Additional Requestors and Disposition

    Lineal descendants or representatives of any Indian Tribe or Native 
Hawaiian organization not identified in this notice that wish to 
request transfer of control of these human remains and associated 
funerary objects should submit a written request with information in 
support of the request to Ryan Wheeler, Robert S. Peabody Institute of 
Archaeology, Phillips Academy, 180 Main Street, Andover, MA 01810, 
telephone (978) 749-4490, email [email protected], by May 20, 2020. 
After that date, if no additional requestors have come forward, 
transfer of control of the human remains and associated funerary 
objects to The Tribes may proceed.
    The Robert S. Peabody Institute of Archaeology is responsible for 
notifying The Tribes that this notice has been published.

    Dated: March 25, 2020.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2020-08320 Filed 4-17-20; 8:45 am]
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