Wisconsin historians recently announced the discovery of at least 11 ancient canoes in a lake in the Badger State, including a boat dating back to 2,500 B.C.
The findings were announced in a press release from the Wisconsin Historical Society on May 23. The canoes were found in Lake Mendota, located outside of Madison.
The Wisconsin Historical Society explained that two ancient canoes were found in a cache in the lake in 2021 and 2022. Since then, historians have found at least 11 other ancient canoes, along what they believe to be an ancient shoreline which has been submerged over time.
Not all canoes will be removed from the lake due to their fragility. In an interview with Fox News Digital on Wednesday, Wisconsin Historical Society State Archaeologist Dr. Amy Rosebrough explained the significance of the discovery.
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“The indigenous people of Wisconsin and throughout the United States fished, traveled, and traded extensively on inland lakes and waterways, and until now we have not had a clear picture of the canoes used in the Great Lakes region,” she explained.
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“To put it in modern terms, it’s like trying to understand life in the Midwest without ever seeing a real pickup truck in person. Canoes allowed people to fish in deeper lakes, transport goods hundreds of kilometers and travel to distant destinations.
Rosebrough added that they believed an ancient village lay beneath the waters, although it had not yet been discovered. Divers have found stone tools in the water and experts believe the lake is full of other hidden sites.
“However, Lake Mendota is a difficult lake to work on,” Rosebrough admitted. “The window of visibility for dive missions is limited and we are exploring non-destructive remote sensing techniques that could be useful this summer.”
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“Even without finding the village, the discovery of these canoes and the tools found in the first canoe discovered, man-made stone tools called fillet sinkers, reminds us that people have lived and worked at the lake for centuries. thousands of years.”
Radiocarbon dating revealed that the oldest canoe dates back to 2,500 BC, which would mean it was built around the time Stonehenge was built. The canoe was built more than 1,700 years before the colonization of ancient Rome and 2,500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
All of the canoes varied in age, with the youngest dating back to 1250 AD. The archaeologist explained that the canoes “may have been intentionally hidden in the water during the winter months, a common practice to protect canoes from freezing and warping.”
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“Either this practice of storing canoes for the winter has taken place in roughly the same location over generations – perhaps due to a nearby habitable area – or we only see a window on a much larger site that could extend across much of the lakeshore,” she said. describe.
Rosebrough added that although the Great Lakes dwarf Lake Mendota, the south-central Wisconsin lake is small but mighty in terms of archaeological potential.
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“The Great Lakes often receive more funding for maritime archaeology, but smaller bodies of water like Lake Mendota have their own history and distinct stories to tell us about the people who lived here hundreds and thousands of years ago. thousands of years,” she said. “We are proud to partner with Wisconsin’s Native Nations to discover everything we can about Tee Waksikhominak and to share these stories now and in the future at the new Wisconsin History Center scheduled to open in early 2027 .”
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Original article source: Prehistoric discovery in US lake leaves experts in shock and awe
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