View Full Version : Madison, WI: 1200 year old dugout canoe found
My cave/tech diving instructor and friend found this dugout canoe in Lake Mendota in June. Tami was on a fun dive with a friend and found the canoe lying on a slope about 30ft deep.
The canoe C14 tests to 800 AD!
Her day job is as a maritime archaeologist for the state of Wisconsin. If you’ve seen excellent photos of WI shipwrecks in Lake Michigan, she’s probably taken them! Her work getting wrecks on the National Register of Historic Places laid the foundation for Wisconsin’s new NOAA Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
The historical preservation officer from the Ho-Chunk tribe was present. There’s an awesome photo of him on the FB post with his hand on the canoe.
I’m just tickled pink for her. :D
https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/historic-find-is-raised-from-lake-mendota/article_c9164032-3ba1-5e8c-9151-97e793920db5.html
https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/news/local/wisconsin/2021/11/02/photos-1-200-year-old-canoe-recovered-bottom-lake-mendota/6257240001/
If you’re on FB, photos from the Wisconsin Historical Society (a state agency)
https://www.facebook.com/330067565247/posts/10158095060335248/
https://www.wkow.com/news/archaeologists-excavate-ancient-canoe-from-lake-mendota/article_163a5c5c-3c18-11ec-979b-3f3cf4abb978.html?fbclid=IwAR2DIYmcsJGp1835LRx9nFl rjMjafW_CHbL1aX-zY8mW5K-CG9yF4BebllY
Wow, Tradd, I can't wait to read these. Amazing!!!
Teacher Terry
11-2-21, 11:42pm
That’s really amazing!
happystuff
11-3-21, 9:43am
Wow! Simply amazing! And it looks really good for as old as it is.
catherine
11-3-21, 10:55am
That is awesome! Thanks for sharing!
iris lilies
11-3-21, 1:35pm
Gosh I never thought about shipwrecks being on the national register of historic places but of course they would qualify. Hard to believe that wooden boat survived all these centuries. The article said it was buried in the sand which kept microbes from destroying it but still.
Iris, when the Abandoned Shipwrecks Act became federal law in 1987-88, it was up to the states to flesh it out. Basically, you can’t take anything off a historic shipwreck unless you have a permit of some sort or can establish ownership of the wreck. WI established a marine preservation department and they have done a fabulous job. Even better than Michigan. Tami and her coworker and some volunteers will survey the wreck, do photos and video. If it’s too deep, they’ll contract with someone to run an ROV. Pretty much anything deeper than 200ft. Then they will research the vessel in primary sources. They will then write up a nomination for it to be on the WI state historical register as well as the national.
Check out this fabulous website that is Tami’s baby. She took virtually all of the photos.
https://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/
So Door County, that pastoral paradise, is named after Death's Door? That was unexpected! Great site!
So Door County, that pastoral paradise, is named after Death's Door? That was unexpected! Great site!
It sure is. Portes de Morte, in the French, if remember it correctly. They’re the ones who named it.
The canoe made the Daily Mail out of the UK. There’s a neat video compilation that includes some underwater video from Tami’s head mounted GoPro.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10161839/Archaeologists-pull-1-200-year-old-dugout-canoe-built-Native-Americans-Wisconsin-lake.html
Well, this is a weird thing: A FB post on a "Suggested for you" page: The Country Lady, which read:
In Madison, Wisconsin today (11/2/21)
This dugout canoe was pulled out of Lake Mendota around 1:00 p.m. today. It is the oldest known sunken boat/shipwreck in Wisconsin. It is about 1200 years old and was discovered by a diver recently when it happened to catch their attention. Apparently the diver contacted the State Historical Society and a chain of events happened which led to today. Weights were found in the canoe so apparently it was used by the inhabitants of that time to fish with weighted net. Note how small the canoe looks. They must have had great balance and were obviously smaller. The canoe is undergoing a lengthy preservation process to make sure it survives. I live close to the lake location where it was brought ashore so this information is from conversations with people at the scene. The number of people involved is long. City and state had a lot of archeologists and other key personnel there to direct and help the extraction. The Mayor was there along with other key city department leaders. Divers did the underwater work and brought the canoe to shore including from the Sheriffs Department. Anyone else who knows more details can add to the story in the comments but in summary it was a pretty amazing sight.
There was a picture of the canoe. So either FB is following me around my usual haunts online, or this event has captured the interest of a LOT of people!
Yes, it has captured the interest of a lot of people.
What a great discovery and report! Thanks, Tradd.
Tami just posted on FB that CNN called today! The story just keeps spreading.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/05/us/canoe-wisconsin-lake-mendota-scn-trnd/index.html?ofs=fbia
happystuff
11-8-21, 10:18am
Tami just posted on FB that CNN called today! The story just keeps spreading.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/05/us/canoe-wisconsin-lake-mendota-scn-trnd/index.html?ofs=fbia
That is so cool!!!
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