The Positive Impact of Bioarchaeology on NAGPRA Efforts in Louisiana

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Thirty-five years after the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act’s (NAGPRA) formation, federal organizations are still working through backlogs of inventory to comply with the legislature. This poster presents a realistic case study of how bioarchaeology can be a productive part of the NAGPRA process by detailing the steps that were taken by the Louisiana Division of Archaeology with the assistance of Louisiana State University to organize and inventory a small skeletal collection to be repatriated to local indigenous groups. The site, referred to as 16JA21, was excavated in the early 1970s by pothunters. Associated artifacts and skeletal remains were later donated to the state along with some detail of the excavation process, leading to confusion about context. This poster presents how bioarchaeology can inform on mislabeled skeletal remains. A summary of the analysis of all human and faunal skeletal remains including descriptions, weights, and MNI is provided. I will reflect on how such techniques can provide new insights into the presentation of human skeletal remains to descendent communities, therefore moving the NAGPRA efforts forward. ***This presentation will include images of human remains.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52756