The Best Defense is a Good Offense: Culturally Affiliating the Ancient One by Following the Law

Summary

The 20 year journey to repatriation of the Ancient One was long, arduous, frustrating, eye opening, and an education in the NAGPRA law. Over the years we have discovered how poorly understood the law can be. In the case of the Ancient One, the ownership or control of his remains falls under Section 3 of NAGPRA for inadvertent discoveries on federal lands after 1990. An overview of the evidentiary standard applicable to cultural affiliation determinations under NAGPRA will be presented. All available, population specific data for the Columbia Plateau was used. Scientific certainty is not required but rather a preponderance of the evidence standard, or belief that the existence of a cultural affiliation is more probable than its nonexistence. The claimant tribes followed the requirements set forth in the NAGPRA law and regulations to establish a relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the Ancient One and themselves.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21046