Federal Register /Vol. 57, No. 198 /Tuesday, October 13, 1992 /Notices 46866 & 46867
________________________________________________________________________
Notice of Completion of Inventory of Native American Human Remains and
Associated Funerary Objects from Four Sites in Tuolumne County,
California, in the Possession of the California Department of Parks and
Recreation.
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
________________________________________________________________________
Notice is hereby given in accordance with provisions of the Native
American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d), of
the completion of the inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects from four sites in Tuolumne County, California, in the
possession of the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
Representatives of culturally affiliated Indian tribes are advised that
the human remains and associated funerary objects from Tuolumne County
will be retained by the Department at its headquarters facility until
November 12, 1992, after which they may be repatriated to culturally
affiliated groups.
The detailed inventory and assessment of the human remains and
associated funerary objects from these four Tuolumne County sites has
been made by the California Department of Parks and Recreation
curatorial and archeological staff, contract specialists in physical
anthropology and prehistoric archeology, and representatives of the
Tuolumne Band of Me-wuk Indians and the Central Sierra Me-Wuk Cultural
and Historic Preservation Committee.
Three of the collections [from CA-TUO-331, CA-TUO-342, and CA-TUO-
S497 (the Lucas Gulch site)] were surface-collected in 1970 prior to
flooding of the Don Pedro reservoir. The collection from CA-TUO-342
contains one human tooth which is probably late prehistoric or
protohistoric, based on a desert side-notched point and olivella disc
beads found during the survey. The collection from CA-TUO-331, a small
village site with many bedrock mortar pits, and the collection from CA-
TUO-S497 each contain one human bone fragment which are presumed to be
late prehistoric or historic based on the degree of their preservation.
No funerary objects have been identified from these surface-collections.
The fourth collection was excavated in 1968 from CA-TUO-395 (the
Columbus Junior College site). The collection includes one cremation,
two burials, and 60,050 funerary objects, most of which are fire-exposed
beads. The burials date from about 1860.
Two of the collections, CA-TUO-342 and CA-TUO-395, are clearly
identifiable as being affiliated with the historic Central Sierra Miwok
people, as they come from known historic or late prehistoric village
sites and have artifacts which are consistent with this attribution.
The two other collections, from CA-TUO-331 and CA-TUO-S497, can
reasonably be believed to be affiliated with the historic Central Sierra
Miwok people as they were collected from an area believed by
archeologists to be inhabited by the Central Sierra Miwok since about AD
1400, with no contradictory evidence of the presence of another group.
This notice has been sent to officials of the Tuolumne Band of the
Me-wuk and the Central Sierra Me-wuk Cultural and Historic Preservation
Committee. Representatives of any other Indian group which believes
itself to be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated
funerary objects from these four Tuolumne County collections should get
in touch with Pauline Grenbeaux Spear, Committee on Repatriation, P.O.
942896, Sacramento CA 94296-0001, (916) 324-6800 before November 12,
1992.
Dated: October 6, 1992
Francis P. McManamon
Departmental Consulting Archeologist
Chief, Archeological Assistance Division
[FR Doc 92-24760 Filed 10-9-92; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M
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