NAGPRA—or the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act—was signed into law on November 16, 1990. At its core, NAGPRA was created to address the historical mistreatment of Native American human remains and cultural items. NAGPRA requires federal agencies and cultural institutions (e.g. museums, universities, state agencies, and local governments) that receive federal funds to repatriate (or return) ancestors, sacred objects, funerary objects, and objects of cultural patrimony to lineal descendants and culturally affiliated federally recognized tribes and nations.
Author: Kristen Walczesky
Kristen Walczesky is one of the PA SHPO's archaeological resources Environmental Review specialists. She reviews projects in the central region of the state. Kristen was born and raised in South Carolina but has had the pleasure of living all over the United States. She holds a PhD in anthropology/historic preservation from the University of Florida, a master's degree in historical archaeology from Illinois State University, and a bachelor's degree in anthropology/GIS from the University of South Carolina-Columbia. She is a trained zooarchaeologist with research interests in Indigenous archaeology and the archaeology of French colonial sites, but enjoys learning about all aspects of history and archaeology.
Quarrying our Data for Quarry Districts Part 2: The Updated Hardyston Jasper District
Back in October 2023, we shared a blog highlighting the updates to the Hardyston Jasper District that PA SHPO archaeologists were working on. These updates included reevaluating our PASS data to create and formally designate the NPS/Keeper Eligible Hardyston Jasper District, refine the district’s boundaries from the boundary established in the 1988 report by Anthony and Roberts, and identifying and evaluating sites for inclusion in the Hardyston Jasper District.
Quarrying our Data for Quarry Districts
Happy Archaeology Month!
One of the most common objects shown to archaeologists for identification are rocks. Most of the time, these objects just end up being rocks, but sometimes people do find one that has been altered in some way by human hands. These artifacts are called lithics and they can be found all over the United States and throughout the rest of the world.
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