Signal Butte, Archaeological site in Scotts Bluff County, US.

Signal Butte is an archaeological site in western Nebraska containing three distinct layers of prehistoric materials from different time periods. The deposits hold artifacts buried under gravel and soil, representing thousands of years of occupation and settlement patterns.

A local amateur alerted William Duncan Strong to finds on the butte in 1931, and he led investigations there in 1931 and 1932, uncovering stone points, drills, bone awls, storage pits and hearths. Further work in the 1940s and 1950s established that the sites were probably seasonal hunting camps. Signal Butte was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.

The butte's three cultural layers span from the Middle Archaic, about 5,000 years ago, to later occupations. Excavations in 1931 and 1932 uncovered stone projectile points and drills, bone awls, storage pits and fireplace hearths. Later work in the 1940s and 1950s concluded the sites were probably seasonal hunting camps rather than permanent villages.

The site is not open to the public, so visits to the butte itself are not possible. It lies west of Robidoux Pass and Gering in rural western Nebraska, reached by road through Scotts Bluff County. The butte rises about 120 feet above the surrounding plains, so it can be seen from a distance along nearby routes.

Signal Butte is one of the first archaeological sites in the world from which a radiocarbon date was obtained, though the exact dates of habitation remain debated. Excavations in 1931 and 1932 also uncovered storage pits and fireplace hearths.