[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 10, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21399-21400]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08370]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-12465; PCU00RP14.R50000-PPWOCRADN0]
Notice of Inventory Completion: Center for Archaeological
Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio, TX
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Center for Archaeological Research at the University of
Texas at San Antonio has completed an inventory of human remains, in
consultation with the appropriate Indian tribe, and has determined that
there is a cultural affiliation between the human remains and a
present-day Indian tribe. Representatives of any Indian tribe that
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains may
contact the Center for Archaeological Research at the University of
Texas at San Antonio. Repatriation of the human remains to the Indian
tribe stated below may occur
[[Page 21400]]
if no additional claimants come forward.
DATES: Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes it has a
cultural affiliation with the human remains should contact the Center
for Archaeological Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio
at the address below by May 10, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Cynthia Munoz, Center for Archaeological Research, 1 UTSA
Circle, San Antonio, TX 78249, telephone (210) 458-4394.
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 in the
possession of the Center for Archaeological Research at the University
of Texas at San Antonio, TX. The human remains were removed from site
41ZP144 in San Ygnacio, Zapata County, TX.
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. The National Park Service is not responsible
for the determinations in this notice.
Consultation
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Center
for Archaeological Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio
professional staff in consultation with representatives of the
Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico.
History and Description of the Remains
In December 2012, as a result of a court order, human remains
representing, at minimum, one individual were removed from site 41ZP144
in Zapata County, TX. The partial remains were recovered from a single
grave in a prehistoric site in San Ygnacio. The burial was located
under a paved street on a high terrace, 55 meters east of the Rio
Grande River. In late 1991, the San Ygnacio Municipal Utility District
was engaged in trenching for a wastewater pipeline installation. During
the course of this work, the human remains were accidentally unearthed
under caliche road material. Portions of the remains, consisting of the
skull, vertebrae, rib cage, and left arm, were damaged by excavation
machinery. The trenching was monitored by Archaeology Consultants Inc.
of George West Texas. Work was stopped in the area of the find and the
Zapata County Sheriff's office, the Texas Antiquities Committee, and
the Office of the State Archeologist were contacted. The agencies
agreed that the burial should only be exposed to the extent needed to
determine its identity. The burial was determined to be Native American
based on mussel shells and lithic debitage encountered in the burial
fill. A radiocarbon assay of a bone sample dated the remains to AD
1400. The remains were reburied and a paved road was constructed over
the burial. The 1991 work is reported in an archeological report
titled: Monitoring for Cultural Resources in the San Ygnacio Wastewater
Improvement Project, Zapata County, Texas, by James E. Warren.
In 2012, a Petition for Removal of Remains was filed by Zapata
County. The petition was heard by the 49th Judicial Court of Webb-
Zapata County and a court order was issued to allow for the removal of
the human remains. The County of Zapata contracted with the Center for
Archaeological Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio to
exhume the burial. The partial remains of one adult individual were
recovered. The remains are represented primarily by fragmented elements
of the cranial vault, the right arm, the sacrum, the pelvis, and both
legs. The sex of this individual is female based on traits associated
with the pelvis. A specific age range determination was not possible;
however, morphologic traits indicate that these remains are those of an
adult who, most likely, was 20-35 years old at the time of death. No
known individual was identified. No associated funerary objects are
present.
The context and date of the burial (AD 1400) demonstrate the
remains are of Native American ancestry. The femora are platymeric, a
trait associated with Native Americans. Given the absence of associated
artifacts, it is not possible to ascribe tribal affiliation, though the
burial location is within the region of South Texas first inhabited by
the Coahuiltecans (not a Federally-recognized tribe) and later by the
Apaches. Apache tribes entered Texas relatively late in time, appearing
in the Panhandle region in the 1500s, and in south Texas in the 1700s.
This site is located within the land claim areas of the Mescalero
Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico.
Determinations Made by the Center for Archaeological Research at the
University of Texas at San Antonio
Officials of the Center for Archaeological Research at the
University of Texas at San Antonio have determined that:
Pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(9), the human remains described
in this notice represent the physical remains of one individual of
Native American ancestry.
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 the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero
Reservation, New Mexico.
Additional Requestors and Disposition
Representatives of any Indian tribe that believes itself to be
culturally affiliated with the human remains should contact Cynthia
Munoz, Center for Archaeological Research, 1 UTSA Circle, San Antonio,
Texas, 78249, telephone (210) 458-4394, by May 10, 2013. Repatriation
of the human remains to the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero
Reservation, New Mexico may proceed after that date if no additional
claimants come forward.
The Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Texas
at San Antonio is responsible for notifying the Mescalero Apache Tribe
of the Mescalero Reservation New Mexico that this notice has been
published.
Dated: February 28, 2013.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2013-08370 Filed 4-9-13; 8:45 am]
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