Yale Peabody Museum Completes NAGPRA Human Remains Inventory

Notice

Notice of Inventory Completion: Yale Peabody Museum, Yale University, New Haven, CT

A Notice by the National Park Service on 04/23/2026

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• Public Inspection Published Document: 2026-07958 (91 FR 21836) Document Headings ###### Department of the Interior

National Park Service

1. [N7108; NPS-WASO-NAGPRA-NPS0042668; PPWOCRADN0-PCU00RP14.R50000]

AGENCY:

National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Yale Peabody Museum 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 in this notice.

DATES:

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice may occur on or after May 26, 2026.

ADDRESSES:

Send written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice to Professor Erika Edwards, Interim Director, Yale Peabody Museum, P.O. Box 208118, New Haven, CT 06520-8118, email erika.edwards@yale.edu.

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 Yale Peabody Museum, and additional information on the determinations in this notice, including the results of consultation, can be found in its inventory or related records. The National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.

Abstract of Information Available

Human remains representing, at least, five individuals have been identified. No associated funerary objects are present. The collection was donated to the Yale Peabody Museum on February 9, 1899, by Gertrude McCurdy Lord Griffin on behalf of her husband, Dr. Edward Dorr Griffin. Peabody Museum records indicate that Dr. Griffin collected the remains; however, an exact provenience beyond Old Lyme, Connecticut, where the Griffins resided, was not recorded.

Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have been identified. The four associated funerary objects are one quartz projectile fragment, one lot of faunal remains, one bird bone whistle, and one polished stone ax. The collection was excavated from the Old Lyme Site, an extensive shell heap, in Old Lyme, Connecticut, by George A. Jackson, representing the Yale University Department of Anthropology and Yale Peabody Museum summer archaeology field expedition of 1939. The collection was received at the Peabody Museum on July 1, 1939.

Human remains representing, at least, two individuals have been identified. The 11 associated funerary objects are five quartz projectile points, one lot of quartz projectile rejects, one projectile fragment, one bone (faunal) projectile point, two antler tines, and one ceramic pottery fragment. The collection was excavated from the Old Lyme Site during a second field season in 1940, by Alexis A. Praus, and additional students from the Yale University Department of ( printed page 21837) Anthropology and Yale Peabody Museum. The collection was received at the Peabody Museum on September 20, 1941.

Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been identified. The five associated funerary objects are one lot of incised ceramic pottery fragments, one lot of quartz chips, one lot of charcoal, one lot of food (faunal) refuse, and one lot of comingled and assorted pottery, stone chips, charcoal, and bone (faunal) fragments. Collections removed from the Clark Site, private farmland in Niantic, Connecticut, situated off Smith's Cove and the Niantic River, were excavated in 1946 by Byron Clark, landowner, and Chapin Hubbell, a member of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut. Excavations were also supported by the Yale University Department of Anthropology and Yale Peabody Museum. The collection removed from the Clark Site in 1946, was received at the Peabody Museum on March 24, 1946.

Human remains representing, at least, one individual have been identified. The three associated funerary objects are two ceramic pottery fragments and one lot of ceramic pottery fragments. A subsequent field season at the Clark Site in 1947 was supported by the Yale University Department of Anthropology, Yale Peabody Museum, and Archaeological Society of Connecticut. The collection was donated to the Peabody Museum on March 15, 1947.

Human remains representing, at least, five individuals have been identified. The one associated funerary object is a quartz pecking stone. Beginning in 1907, the collection was removed from the South Woodstock Site, South Woodstock, Connecticut, over several decades by landowner, Arthur Basto. In cooperation with Basto, between August and September 1940, the Yale University Department of Anthropology and Yale Peabody Museum field school also removed collections from the South Woodstock Site. The field school collections were donated to the Peabody Museum on September 20, 1940, while Basto donated his collections on April 26, 1947.

Cultural Affiliation

Based on the information available and the results of consultation, cultural affiliation is clearly identified by the information available about the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice.

Determinations

The Yale Peabody Museum has determined that:

• The human remains described in this notice represent the physical remains of 16 individuals of Native American ancestry.
• The 24 objects described in this notice are reasonably believed to have been placed intentionally with or near individual human remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony.
• There is a connection between the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice and the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe and the Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut.

Requests for Repatriation

Written requests for repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects in this notice must be sent to the authorized representative identified in this notice under ADDRESSES. Requests for repatriation may be submitted by:

1. Any one or more of the Indian Tribes 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 an Indian Tribe or Native Hawaiian organization with cultural affiliation.

Repatriation of the human remains and associated funerary objects described in this notice to a requestor may occur on or after May 26, 2026. If competing requests for repatriation are received, the Yale Peabody Museum 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. The Yale Peabody Museum is responsible for sending a copy of this notice to the Indian Tribes identified in this notice and any other consulting parties.

Authority: Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C. 3003, and the implementing regulations, 43 CFR 10.10.

Dated: April 17, 2026.

Melanie O'Brien,

Manager, National NAGPRA Program.

[FR Doc. 2026-07958 Filed 4-22-26; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4312-52-P

Published Document: 2026-07958 (91 FR 21836)