Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 16 - History, Humanities and Arts › Part 3 - Historic Preservation Division › Chapter 11 - Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations and Reports in Mississippi › Rule 16-3-11.4 - Treatment of Human Remains

Current through June 25, 2024
It is the responsibility of the archaeologist to comply with
				  all state and federal legislation (e.g., Mississippi Antiquities Law, Native
				  American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) concerning archaeological
				  sites and the treatment of Native American human remains encountered during
				  archaeological investigations. Additionally, some agencies have internal
				  guidelines governing the treatment of human remains (e.g., USDA Forest Services
				  Human Remains Policy), and these should also be consulted when applicable. If
				  non-Native American human remains are discovered, then the principal
				  investigator should immediately notify the county coroner, sheriff, and/or
				  board of supervisors to begin consultation. Should aboriginal human remains be
				  discovered, archaeological activities (e.g., shovel testing, test excavations,
				  mechanical stripping) should cease in that area. The field archaeologist should
				  contact the governing/contracting agency for further instruction. In the
				  absence of Federal involvement, if Native American burials are encountered on
				  state, county, municipal or private land, the field archaeologist should
				  contact MDAH-SHPO and apply for a burial excavation permit. Burial excavation
				  permits may also be applied for in anticipation of encountering burials. Work
				  may continue in the area once a burial excavation permit has been granted by
				  MDAH-SHPO. Encountered aboriginal human remains shall be recorded, handled, and
				  protected according to the stipulations stated in the permit.
Under the provisions of the State Antiquities Law (39-7-31),
				  the Board of Trustees of MDAH is given the responsibility of considering and
				  permitting, if deemed appropriate, the excavation of prehistoric or historic
				  Indian burials. Specifically, 39-7-31 states:
No person without a permit from the board and without written
				  permission of the landowner, shall intentionally injure, disfigure, remove,
				  excavate, damage, take, dig into, or destroy any prehistoric or historic
				  American Indian or aboriginal burial.
As stated in 39-7-3 (Declaration of Public Policy), it is the
				  policy of the State of Mississippi and in the interest of the State to protect
				  and preserve archaeological sites of every character. Burials in the context of
				  the Antiquities Law are archaeological sites. They are, however, very special
				  kinds of archaeological sites that are given additional legal protection by
				  other laws. For this reason, burials are the only type of site for which
				  MDAH-SHPO has legal authority on private property, except for Mississippi
				  Landmarks for which this authority is voluntarily given by the
				  landowner.
In order to prevent confusion and to establish clear
				  directives, the following guidelines are instituted:
A. No permit will be issued unless the
				excavation is to be performed or supervised by an archaeologist meeting the
				aforementioned professional qualifications. It is recommended that a physical
				anthropologist be present during the excavation to ensure the recovery of a
				maximum amount of pertinent information.
B. A report, following the guidelines
				established in this document, detailing the findings of the excavation,
				including photographs and sketches, must be submitted to MDAH-SHPO within one
				year of completion of the excavation.
C. If the burial/s in question is reasonably
				expected to be of a known, existing tribe, the written comments of that tribe
				shall be sought and, if obtained, submitted in written form to MDAH-SHPO when
				application is made for a permit.
D. The remains are to be curated in a
				facility that meets or exceeds standards set forth in 36 CFR 79 or reburied
				after scientific analysis. The decision on whether to require reburial will be
				determined by MDAH-SHPO after reviewing documentation submitted with the
				request for a burial excavation permit (see Step 3).
E. Permits to excavate burials will not be
				issued in most circumstances unless there is a threat to the integrity of the
				burial/s through vandalism, natural forces (e.g., erosion, inundation), or
				development that is clearly in the public interest.
F. For purposes of these guidelines, a burial
				is understood to include the items that are interred with the body/human
				remains.
G. In the event of the
				unintended discovery of burials during the course of an excavation, the
				encountered remains are to be recorded in such a manner as to minimize the loss
				of scientific data. A burial excavation permit is to be sought, if the
				archaeologist wishes to continue with the burial excavation/removal.
H. MDAH-SHPO may, as it finds advisable, call
				for a written proposal from the applicant on the procedure for burial removal
				and reserves the right to deny the participation of any archaeologist. Such
				written proposals should address the adequacy of crew size and experience,
				laboratory and temporary curation facilities, as well as arrangements for
				long-term curation or reburial of remains.
Miss. Code §§
										39-7-3,
				  39-7-31,
				  25-59-1
				  (1972, as amended).