Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: University of Georgia, Laboratory of Archaeology, Athens, GA, 88647-88648 [2023-28188]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• National Park Service

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 245 (Friday, December 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88647-88648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28188]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0037135; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]


Notice of Intent To Repatriate Cultural Items: 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 intends to repatriate certain cultural items that meet the 
definition of unassociated funerary objects and that have a cultural 
affiliation with the Indian Tribes or Native Hawaiian organizations in 
this notice. The cultural items were removed from Dade County, GA.

DATES: Repatriation of the cultural items in this notice may occur on 
or after January 22, 2024.

ADDRESSES: Amanda Thompson, University of Georgia, Laboratory of 
Archaeology, 1125 Whitehall Road, Athens, GA 30605, telephone (706) 
542-8737, 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 summary or related 
records held by the University of Georgia, Laboratory of Archaeology.

Description

    The 2,991 unassociated funerary objects cultural items were removed 
from sites 9DD25 and 9DD57 in Dade County, GA.
    The first site is 9DD25 in Dade County, GA, 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 was excavated 
during a University of Georgia (UGA) field school in 1973, 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 
area of 8,000 ft. uncovered during excavation. The collection was then

[[Page 88648]]

housed at the University of Georgia, Laboratory of Archaeology. The 
2,502 unassociated funerary objects include: Possibly associated with 
Burial 7--lithics, ceramics, celt, lithic flakes, faunal, fossil bead, 
and faunal; Possibly associated with Burial 8--lithics, lithic worked, 
lithic PPK, ceramics, and faunal; Burial 9A, Mound A--copper band 
fragment; Burial 10--alligator tooth, stones, and UID ``gallstones''; 
Possibly associated with Burial 12--copper fragments; Mound C, Feature 
30--copper flakes, bone beads, shark vertebrae beads, animal teeth, 
drilled shark vertebrae, drilled shark teeth, faunal, pebbles from near 
bone rattle, backed chert knife, copper pin w/wooden head, copper 
flake, cast of fiber plate with impression, copper plate with fiber 
impressions, copper plate fragments and microslide, copper earspools, 
and woven material and fiber; Burial 15A, Mound C, Feature 31--PPKs, 
fragmented material associated with pan pipe, copper pan pipe, shell 
fragments, copper fragments, and soil from inside pipe; Burial 16 Mound 
A--copper earspool (w/microslide); Unknown burials from Mound context--
lithics, lithic PPK, lithics worked, ceramic, faunal, UID metal, burned 
clay and bone mix, soil, charcoal, plain vessel, material under pan 
pipe, copper earspool fragments, Flint Ridge Ohio blade, shell, shell 
bead necklace, mica, and lithic spade/hoe.
    The site 9DD57 was identified 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 test pits and areas just 
outside the cave. The collection was then housed at the University of 
Georgia, Laboratory of Archaeology. The 489 unassociated funerary 
objects include: lithics, hammerstone, faunal bone, shell, burned nut 
shell, peach pits, burned wood/charcoal, bone pin fragment, and eagle 
raptor talon.

Cultural Affiliation

    The cultural items 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: geographical information.

Determinations

    Pursuant to NAGPRA and its implementing regulations, and after 
consultation with the appropriate Indian Tribes and Native Hawaiian 
organizations, University of Georgia, Laboratory of Archaeology has 
determined that:
     The 2,991 cultural items described above 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 and 
are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have been removed 
from a specific burial site of a Native American individual.
     There is a relationship of shared group identity that can 
be reasonably traced between the cultural items and The Muscogee 
(Creek) Nation.

Requests for Repatriation

    Additional, written requests for repatriation of the cultural items 
in this notice must be sent to the Responsible Official identified in 
ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by 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 cultural items in this notice to a requestor 
may occur on or after January 22, 2024. If competing requests for 
repatriation are received, University of Georgia, Laboratory of 
Archaeology must determine the most appropriate requestor prior to 
repatriation. Requests for joint repatriation of the cultural items 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 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 10.8, 10.10, 
and 10.14.

    Dated: December 13, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-28188 Filed 12-21-23; 8:45 am]
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