Wisconsin archaeologists identify 16 ancient canoes in a prehistoric lake ‘parking lot’
MADISON, Wis. — Archaeologists have identified more than a dozen ancient canoes that indigenous people apparently left behind in a sort of prehistoric parking lot on the shore of a Wisconsin lake.
The Wisconsin Historical Society announced Wednesday that archaeologists have mapped the locations of 16 submerged canoes in the bed of Lake Mendota in Madison. Tamara Thomsen, state maritime archaeologist, said the site is near a system of once-native trails, suggesting that ancient people left the canoes there for anyone to use during their journey, much like a modern electric bike rack.
“It’s a parking spot that’s been used for millennia, over and over again,” Thomsen said.
Lake Mendota is a large 38.8 square kilometers (15 square miles) body of water on the west side of Madison. The state Capitol building and the University of Wisconsin-Madison are located on an isthmus that separates it from Lake Monona, an 8-square-mile 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 beneath it, and a 2,000-year-old canoe next to it, alerting researchers that there was likely more to the site than expected.
Working with Sissel Schroeder, a UW-Madison professor specializing in Native American cultures, and with preservation officers from the Ho-Chunk Nation and the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Thomsen has now located the remains of 12 additional canoes, Thomsen said.
Radiocarbon dating shows the oldest of the 16 canoes dates back 5,200 years, making it the third oldest canoe discovered in eastern North America, she said. The two oldest were found in Florida, with the oldest dating back 7,000 years, Thomsen said.
Wisconsin experienced a drought that began about 7,500 years ago and lasted about 1,000 B.C., Thomsen said. The lake in the area where the canoes were found was probably only 4 feet deep during that time, she said, making it a good place to land and travel on foot. The canoes were likely shared among community members and stored at designated points like the Lake Mendota site. Users typically buried the canoes in sediment in waist-deep water so they wouldn’t dry out or prevent them from freezing, Thomsen said.
The travelers may have been headed to Lake Wingra, a 321-acre (130-hectare) lake on the south side of Madison, said Dr. Amy Rosebrough, state archaeologist. The Madison area is part of the ancestral territory of the Ho-Chunk Nation, which considers one of the springs that feeds Lake Wingra a portal to the spirit world, she said.
“The canoes remind us how long our people have lived in this region and how deeply connected we remain to these waters and lands,” Ho-Chunk Tribe Conservation Officer Bill Quackenbush said in a news release.
Thomsen hypothesized that if the drought started 7,500 years ago and archaeologists found canoes under other canoes, they could possibly find a 7,000-year-old canoe in the lake. That could mean that indigenous people who preceded many of Wisconsin’s tribes could have used the lake, she said.
Thomsen spends most of his days exploring Great Lakes shipwrecks and only works on the canoe project one day a week. But she called this work the most impactful she’s ever done as an archaeologist, as she engages with Wisconsin tribes, learns their history and tells their stories.
“I think I shed more tears about it,” she said. “Talking with indigenous people, sometimes I sit here and get goosebumps. I just feel like (the work) makes a difference. Each of these canoes gives us another clue to history.”
