Notice of Inventory Completion: Texas Department of Transportation, Austin, TX Publication: Federal Register Agency: National Park Service Byline: Melanie O'Brien Date: 3 July 2023 Subject: American Government , Roads & Highways

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 126 (Monday, July 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42742-42743]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14074]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0036100; 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 August 2, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Scott Pletka, TxDOT, 6230 East Stassney Lane, Austin, TX 
78701, telephone (512) 865-8694, email scott.pletka@txdot.gov.

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 August and September of 2021, human remains representing, at 
minimum, three individuals were removed from site 41AN162 in Anderson 
County, TX, by archeologists working on behalf of TxDOT. A non-funerary 
pit feature yielded a lower right canine tooth belonging to an adult 
and a deciduous upper left central incisor tooth belonging to a 
juvenile. No associated funerary objects are present. An individual 
burial yielded one lower premolar, three lower molars, and four upper 
molars belonging to a juvenile. The 47 associated funerary objects are 
one possible Kiam Incised vessel, three unidentified plainware vessels, 
41 incised and grog-tempered ceramic

[[Page 42743]]

sherds, one piece of lithic debitage, and one liter of soil fill.

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 three individuals of Native American ancestry.
     The 47 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 August 2, 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.
    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: June 21, 2023.
Melanie O'Brien,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2023-14074 Filed 6-30-23; 8:45 am]
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