Tamara Thomsen has a knack for finding Wisconsin's sunken vessels
ED TRELEVEN
Updated
Tamara Thomsen is a marine archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society, member of the Women Diver’s Hall of Fame and prolific underwater photographer.
From Wisconsin’s Great Lakes shipwrecks to a pair of ancient Ho-Chunk dugout canoes found in Lake Mendota, Wisconsin Historical Society underwater archaeologist Tamara Thomsen has some great stories to tell.
Tamara Thomsen has worked as an underwater archaeologist for the Wisconsin Historical Society since 2004, when she took what was to be a temporary job. Since then, she has regularly explored Great Lakes shipwrecks, and between 2021 and 2022 found two ancient Ho-Chunk canoes in Lake Mendota.
Thomsen, at the Wisconsin Historical Society's office and lab on Stoughton Road, discusses a pair of Native paddles donated to the society. They're likely hundreds of years old but their exact age will be determined by further analysis.
This porthole was salvaged illegally from a sunken luxury yacht in Lake Michigan off Racine in 1991. Thomsen said it's illegal under state and federal law to take items from shipwrecks.
Tamara Thomsen has worked as an underwater archaeologist for the Wisconsin Historical Society since 2004, when she took what was to be a temporary job. Since then, she has regularly explored Great Lakes shipwrecks, and between 2021 and 2022 found two ancient Ho-Chunk canoes in Lake Mendota.
Thomsen, at the Wisconsin Historical Society's office and lab on Stoughton Road, discusses a pair of Native paddles donated to the society. They're likely hundreds of years old but their exact age will be determined by further analysis.
This porthole was salvaged illegally from a sunken luxury yacht in Lake Michigan off Racine in 1991. Thomsen said it's illegal under state and federal law to take items from shipwrecks.
