Madison, Wisconsin.. Archaeologists have identified more than a dozen ancient canoes that appear to have been left behind by indigenous people in a prehistoric parking lot along the shore of Lake Wisconsin.
Archaeologists have mapped the location of 16 submerged canoes at the bottom of Lake Mendota in Madison, the Wisconsin Historical Society announced Wednesday. The site is located near a network of what were once Indigenous trails, suggesting the ancients left canoes there for anyone to use as they traveled, much like a modern-day e-bike rack, said Tamara Thomsen, state marine archaeologist.
“It’s a parking space that has been used for thousands of years, over and over again,” Thomsen said.
Lake Mendota is a sprawling, 15-square-mile (38.8 km2) body of water on the west side of Madison. The state capitol and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are located on an isthmus extending between it and Lake Monona, a 5-square-mile (13-square-kilometre) lake to the east.
The discoveries began in 2021 when archaeologists discovered the remains of a 1,200-year-old canoe submerged in 24 feet of water in Lake Mendota. The following year, they found the remains of a 3,000-year-old canoe, a 4,500-year-old canoe underneath it, and a 2,000-year-old canoe next to it, alerting researchers that there may have been more at the site than they expected.
Working with Cecil Schroeder, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor who specializes in Native American cultures, and heritage preservation officials with the Ho-Chunk Nation and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Thomsen has now been able to locate the remains of 12 additional canoes, Thomsen said.
She said that radiocarbon dating shows that the oldest canoe among the 16 canoes dates back to 5,200 years ago, making it the third oldest canoe discovered in eastern North America. Thomsen said the two oldest were found in Florida, and the oldest dates back 7,000 years.
Wisconsin experienced a drought that began about 7,500 years ago and lasted until about 1000 B.C., Thomsen said. She said the lake in the area where the canoes were found was probably only 4 feet (1.2 meters) deep during that period, making it a good place to descend on foot. The canoes were likely shared among community members and stored at specific points such as the Lake Mendota site. Users typically bury canoes in waist-deep, chest-deep water sediment to keep them from drying out or to keep them from freezing, Thomsen said.
Dr. Amy Rosebrough, state archaeologist, said the travelers were probably headed to Lake Wingra, a 321-acre (130-hectare) lake on Madison’s south side. She added that the Madison area is part of the ancestral homeland of the Ho Chanc tribe, which considers one of the springs that feed Lake Fengra to be a gateway to the spirit world.
“The canoes remind us of how long our people have lived in this area and how deeply connected we are to these waters and lands,” Ho-Chunk Tribal Conservation Officer Bill Quackenbush said in a news release.
Thomsen speculated that if the drought actually began 7,500 years ago and archaeologists find canoes under other canoes, they might eventually find a 7,000-year-old canoe in the lake. This could mean that indigenous people who preceded many Wisconsin tribes may have used the lake, she said.
Thomsen spends most of her days uncovering shipwrecks in the Great Lakes and works on the canoe project just one day a week. But she called this the most impactful work she has ever done as an archaeologist because she gets to interact with Wisconsin tribes, learn about their histories and tell their stories.
“I think I shed more tears over this,” she said. “As I talk to indigenous people, sometimes I sit here and get goosebumps. It’s as if (the work) is making a difference. Each one of these canoes gives us another clue to the story.”