Sidney in Cheyenne County, Nebraska — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Nebraska’s Earliest Documented Burial
A distinct group of prehistoric hunter-gatherers known to archeologists as the Oxbow Complex once occupied the northern High Plains from western Nebraska to southern Canada. About 2500 B.C. a band of Oxbow people interred two of their own near here. The skeletal remains, found eroding from a road cut, were covered with red ocher and buried in a semi-flexed position. This interment of a young adult male and an infant in a single grave represents Nebraska’s earliest documented burial.
The Oxbow people participated in an extensive North American trade network. Copper from the Great Lakes and shells from the Atlantic Coast have been found at Oxbow sites. Exotic objects accompanying the Sidney burial included a neck ornament made from a turtle shell, raven bones, freshwater mussel shells, a large stone knife of local Kimball chert, and five amazonite pendants. The closest source of amazonite, which resembles turquoise, is the Pike’s Peak region of Colorado.
Jim and Becky Haddix of Sidney are credited with the 1992 discovery and subsequent preservation effort. The remains and associated funerary objects were reinterred in the Sidney cemetery.
Erected 2011 by City of Sidney; Cheyenne County Visitors Committee; and Nebraska State Historical Society. (Marker Number 70.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Anthropology & Archaeology • Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Native Americans. In addition, it is included in the Nebraska State Historical Society series list.
Location. 41° 7.888′ N, 102° 58.011′ W. Marker is in Sidney, Nebraska, in Cheyenne County. Marker is on Fort Sidney Road, 0.1 miles north of Deaver Drive, on the left when traveling north. Marker is located in a pull-out on the west side of Fort Sidney Road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Sidney NE 69162, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Fort Sidney (approx. 0.9 miles away); Carnegie Library (approx. one mile away); Hickory Square (approx. 1.1 miles away); Sidney-Black Hills Trail (approx. 2 miles away); Cheyenne County (approx. 2˝ miles away); Sidney ~ Cheyenne County (approx. 2˝ miles away); Purple Heart Trail (approx. 2˝ miles away); Sioux Army Depot (approx. 8˝ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sidney.
Also see . . . The Sidney Burial: A Middle Plains Archaic Mortuary Site from Western Nebraska. Excerpt:
The remains of a Middle Archaic (radiocarbon dated to 2288 - 2466 B. C.) young adult male and an infant of indeterminate sex were discovered eroding from a road cut near Sidney, Nebraska, and excavated. The funerary items and burial style tenuously link the Sidney Burial with the Oxbow Complex.(Submitted on August 19, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Credits. This page was last revised on August 19, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 19, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 86 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 19, 2023, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.