It’s September again, which means we’re jumping into another Nebraska Archeology Month! The Nebraska State Historical Society’s (NSHS) State Archeology Office (SAO) team has been hard at work throughout the past year helping to preserve, explore, and interpret all of Nebraska’s 11,000-plus archeological sites. In addition to project work that took teammates to 49 counties across Nebraska, partnerships with state and federal agencies, Tribal Nations, local communities, the University of Nebraska, and others provided archeological programming and expertise to countless stakeholders and allowed us to continue to build our robust dataset of Nebraska archeology.
SAO archeologists excavating at the Sharp Homestead in Stanton County.
The largest project undertaken this past year—and largest mitigative excavation the SAO has led in about 2 decades—was conducted in Stanton County at the Sharp Homestead . This homestead, one of the earliest in Stanton County making it a historically significant site, was homesteaded in 1865, a period of scant archeological evidence in the state. Due to a highway expansion project, large-scale excavation was needed to recover data before construction. You can read more about the project on the NSHS blog. Also keep an eye out all month long for more details on how the SAO applied the archeological process, from background research and survey to site excavation and post-field lab work, at the Sharp Homestead.
As always, public outreach plays an important role in the work of the SAO; we can’t do what we do without public support. Providing programming and assistance to members of the public and community organizations allows us to share more about the important work we do and how significant Nebraska’s deep history—going back more than 13,000 years—really is. Two enriching outreach engagements SAO staff participated in this year were held locally, here in Lincoln, and in Holdrege.
SAO Archeologist Nolan Johnson presenting to a class from the UNL Osher Lifelong Learning Institute program.
State Archeologist Dave Williams gives a presentation about rock art to the Holdrege Area Public Library.
Back in June, Archeologist Nolan Johnson provided a presentation on the history and archeology of the NSHS’s Kennard House, located near the Capitol in downtown Lincoln, to the UNL Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). This program, which also includes a tour of the house, has been provided to OLLI members several times in recent years. The NSHS will be hosting their own version, again led by Nolan, at an upcoming date TBD. Also in June, I had the opportunity to visit the Holdrege Area Public Library as part of their “Color Our World” Summer Reading Challenge programming. During my visit, I shared about rock art, both from Nebraska and elsewhere, and attendees had the opportunity to create their own “rock art” on butcher paper afterward! These two programs illustrate the breadth of Nebraskans interested in archeology—from school kids to retirees—and we look forward to continuing to provide similar programming to all audiences across Nebraska. If you are looking for a program for your group or event, please reach out at the contact information I’ve provided below.
Butcher paper rock art produced by Holdrege Area Public Library program attendees.
As we open up this year’s Nebraska Archeology Month, I want to extend my sincere thanks for your continued support of the SAO’s work to preserve, explore, and interpret Nebraska’s archeological resources.
Dave Williams, Nebraska State Archeologist
402-219-2759
September 2025
