A team of scuba divers have pulled an 1,200-year-old 15-foot dugout canoe from a Wisconsin lake.
A team of scuba divers have pulled an 1,200-year-old 15-foot dugout canoe from a Wisconsin lake.
Complete coverage: Ancient canoes in Lake Mendota
Sixteen dugout canoes have been discovered in the lake so far. Read about how they were found and the efforts to preserve them.
Watch Now: Divers pull out 1,200-year-old canoe from bottom of Wisconsin lake
Divers pull out 1,200-year-old canoe from bottom of Wisconsin lake
Ancient canoe from Lake Mendota undergoes high tech scan
Lennon Rodgers, who directs the Grainger Engineering Design and Innovation Laboratory at UW-Madison, scans the dugout canoe to make 3-D images of the boat found in Lake Mendota.
After a 1,200-year-old canoe was brought to the surface of Lake Mendota in early November, it appeared that significant study of the ancient watercraft would have to wait at least two years since the canoe is undergoing a long-term preservation process in a specialized tank.
But in March, the canoe was briefly liberated from its bath of purified water and UV sterilization to undergo a series of high-tech 3D scans to create detailed renderings and give researchers a jump-start on their study of the rare archaeological find.
A series of scans on the canoe includes a hole, at left, in one end of the boat. The scans show more details than can be seen with the naked eye.
This 1,200-year-old dugout canoe found in June and pulled from Lake Mendota in early November was temporarily removed in March from a preservation tank so it could be scanned to make 3-D images of the historic watercraft.
The 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was raised from Lake Mendota in early November by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe was discovered in June during a recreational dive and is the oldest intact boat ever recovered from Wisconsin waters. The canoe is undergoing preservation efforts over the next two years before it could be displayed in a museum.
Lennon Rodgers, who directs the Grainger Engineering Design and Innovation Laboratory at UW–Madison, uses a high-tech device to scan a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe that was pulled from Lake Mendota in early November.
A dugout canoe crafted in A.D. 800 was towed in early November for most of its 1-mile trip to shore but guided by divers in shallow water for the final 100 yards or so to Spring Harbor Beach.
Photos: Dugout canoe recovered from Lake Mendota after 1,200 years
Dugout canoe
Randy Wallander, a volunteer diver from Manitowoc, unloads gear for the dive. Wallander specializes in bringing up sunken objects, usually in Lake Michigan.
Dugout canoe
Members of the dive team from the Dane County Sheriff's Office were among those who took part in Tuesday's dive near Shorewood Hills.
Dougout canoe
Divers prepare to remove a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe from Lake Mendota on Tuesday.
Dugout canoe
Dugout canoe
Divers converged on Lake Mendota Tuesday to recover a dugout canoe that hadn't been to the surface in 1,200 years.
Dugout canoe
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist who discovered the Native American dugout canoe in June in Lake Mendota, celebrates the recovery Tuesday with Jim Skibo, Wisconsin's state archaeologist. The canoe was placed in an enclosed trailer for its trip from Spring Harbor Beach to the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison's Near East Side.
Dugout canoe
Spectators watch as a 1,200-year-oid dugout canoe makes its way across Lake Mendota to Spring Harbor Beach.
Dugout canoe
A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was raised from Lake Mendota Tuesday by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe was discovered in June during a recreational dive and is the oldest intact boat ever recovered from Wisconsin waters. The canoe will undergo preservation efforts over the next two years before it can be displayed in a museum.
Dugout canoe
Spectators watch as a 1,200-year-oid dugout canoe crafted by members of the Native American Ho-Chunk tribe from Lake Mendota near Spring Harbor Beach in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Dugout canoe
A dugout canoe crafted in A.D. 800 was towed for most of its 1-mile trip to shore but guided by divers in shallow water for the final 100 yards or so to Spring Harbor Beach.
Dugout canoe
Bystanders watch as yellow floats are used to bring a dugout canoe to Spring Harbor Beach. The 1-mile trip took nearly two hours.
Dugout canoe
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist who discovered the Native American dugout canoe in June in Lake Mendota, celebrates the recovery Tuesday with Jim Skibo, Wisconsin's state archaeologist. The canoe was placed in an enclosed trailer for its trip from Spring Harbor Beach to the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison's Near East Side.
Dugout canoe
A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was raised from Lake Mendota Tuesday by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe was discovered in June during a recreational dive and is the oldest intact boat ever recovered from Wisconsin waters. The canoe will undergo preservation efforts over the next two years before it can be displayed in a museum.
Dugout canoe
A dugout canoe crafted in A.D. 800 was towed for most of its 1-mile trip to shore but guided by divers in shallow water for the final 100 yards or so to Spring Harbor Beach.
Watch now: Ho-Chunk youth trace ancestral path in dugout canoe
Luck strikes twice as another ancient canoe is pulled from Lake Mendota's depths
The Wisconsin Historical Society's new museum planned for Capitol Square may need its own wing for ancient canoes.
In a remarkable discovery, archaeologists on Thursday pulled another dugout canoe from Lake Mendota, only this one is much older and in a more fragile state than one found last year.
A dugout canoe built 3,000 years ago by Ho-Chunk people was found about 300 yards from the spot where archaeologist and diver Tamara Thomsen also found a 1,200-year-old canoe.
James Skibo, left, Wisconsin's state archaeologist, leads a group that includes other archaeologists from the Wisconsin Historical Society as they float a 3,000-year-old dugout on Lake Mendota to Spring Harbor Beach. The canoe was found in May in 24 feet of water near the Shorewood Hills shoreline.
Casey Brown, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, was among the tribal members Thursday who were able to touch the canoe found in Lake Mendota.
Members of the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Ho-Chunk Nation were among those Thursday who helped carry the canoe from Lake Mendota to a waiting trailer so it could be taken to the State Archive Preservation Facility, where it will undergo two years of preservation before it can be displayed to the public.
Tamara Thomsen, center, found the 3,000-year-old dugout canoe in May and helped bring the historic artifact to shore on Thursday. Thomsen also found a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe in 2021 about 300 yards from where this canoe was found.
Christian Overland, director and CEO of the Wisconsin Historical Society, left, listens as Marlon WhiteEagle, Ho-Chunk Nation president, speaks after the canoe was raised from Lake Mendota.
This series of photographs shows the 3,000-year-old dugout canoe on the bottom of Lake Mendota.
This 1,200-year-old dugout canoe found in June 2021 and pulled from Lake Mendota in early November was temporarily removed in March from a preservation tank so it could be scanned to make 3-D images of the historic watercraft.
Thomsen
A pontoon boat, left, filled with members of the Ho-Chunk Nation, escorts a Wisconsin Historical Society research vessel towing the canoe after it was raised.
Divers on Thursday prepare to bring a 3,000-year-old dugout canoe to the surface of Lake Mendota.
Bill Quackenbush, tribal historic preservation officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation, gets a closer look.
Photos: Dugout canoe recovered from Lake Mendota after 1,200 years
Dugout canoe
Randy Wallander, a volunteer diver from Manitowoc, unloads gear for the dive. Wallander specializes in bringing up sunken objects, usually in Lake Michigan.
Dugout canoe
Members of the dive team from the Dane County Sheriff's Office were among those who took part in Tuesday's dive near Shorewood Hills.
Dougout canoe
Divers prepare to remove a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe from Lake Mendota on Tuesday.
Dugout canoe
Dugout canoe
Divers converged on Lake Mendota Tuesday to recover a dugout canoe that hadn't been to the surface in 1,200 years.
Dugout canoe
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist who discovered the Native American dugout canoe in June in Lake Mendota, celebrates the recovery Tuesday with Jim Skibo, Wisconsin's state archaeologist. The canoe was placed in an enclosed trailer for its trip from Spring Harbor Beach to the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison's Near East Side.
Dugout canoe
Spectators watch as a 1,200-year-oid dugout canoe makes its way across Lake Mendota to Spring Harbor Beach.
Dugout canoe
A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was raised from Lake Mendota Tuesday by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe was discovered in June during a recreational dive and is the oldest intact boat ever recovered from Wisconsin waters. The canoe will undergo preservation efforts over the next two years before it can be displayed in a museum.
Dugout canoe
Spectators watch as a 1,200-year-oid dugout canoe crafted by members of the Native American Ho-Chunk tribe from Lake Mendota near Spring Harbor Beach in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Dugout canoe
A dugout canoe crafted in A.D. 800 was towed for most of its 1-mile trip to shore but guided by divers in shallow water for the final 100 yards or so to Spring Harbor Beach.
Dugout canoe
Bystanders watch as yellow floats are used to bring a dugout canoe to Spring Harbor Beach. The 1-mile trip took nearly two hours.
Dugout canoe
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist who discovered the Native American dugout canoe in June in Lake Mendota, celebrates the recovery Tuesday with Jim Skibo, Wisconsin's state archaeologist. The canoe was placed in an enclosed trailer for its trip from Spring Harbor Beach to the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison's Near East Side.
Dugout canoe
A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was raised from Lake Mendota Tuesday by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe was discovered in June during a recreational dive and is the oldest intact boat ever recovered from Wisconsin waters. The canoe will undergo preservation efforts over the next two years before it can be displayed in a museum.
Dugout canoe
A dugout canoe crafted in A.D. 800 was towed for most of its 1-mile trip to shore but guided by divers in shallow water for the final 100 yards or so to Spring Harbor Beach.
How more dugout canoes were found in Lake Mendota
9 more dugout canoes found in Lake Mendota; 1 may be 4,500 years old
Lake Mendota continues to reveal its secrets. And this one is the oldest so far
Archaeologists with the Wisconsin Historical Society announced Thursday they have identified up to nine more dugout canoes on the lake's bottom near Shorewood Hills.
One of the fragments of a dugout canoe pulled from Lake Mendota near where two other more intact canoes were discovered in 2021 and 2022.
Luck strikes twice as another ancient canoe is pulled from Lake Mendota's depths
This graphic shows the estimated age of the ancient canoes found in Lake Mendota and the type of trees used to make them. The earliest canoes were made from elm and the most recent canoe from 800 years ago was crafted from a red oak tree.
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society, looks out over the stretch of Lake Mendota where several ancient canoes have been identified. Thomsen discovered intact canoes in 2021 and 2022. Recently analyzed fragments from the same site near Shorewood Hills has revealed the presence of up to nine more canoes, one estimated to be 4,500 years old.
Tamara Thomsen treats two dugout canoes and fragments from several canoes found in Lake Mendota. The ancient wood pieces are undergoing a preservation process to stabilize the wood before it is freeze-dried and prepared for public display.
Ground-penetrating radar was used in late 2022 and early 2023 on the frozen surface of Lake Mendota in an attempt to find evidence of more dugout canoes.
After fatal diving incident, state archaeologist remembered for 'passion and enthusiasm'
State archaeologist Amy Rosebrough, left, and Sissel Schroeder, a professor of archaeology at UW-Madison, examine fragments of the canoes.
Photos: Dugout canoe recovered from Lake Mendota after 1,200 years
Dugout canoe
Randy Wallander, a volunteer diver from Manitowoc, unloads gear for the dive. Wallander specializes in bringing up sunken objects, usually in Lake Michigan.
Dugout canoe
Members of the dive team from the Dane County Sheriff's Office were among those who took part in Tuesday's dive near Shorewood Hills.
Dougout canoe
Divers prepare to remove a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe from Lake Mendota on Tuesday.
Dugout canoe
Dugout canoe
Divers converged on Lake Mendota Tuesday to recover a dugout canoe that hadn't been to the surface in 1,200 years.
Dugout canoe
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist who discovered the Native American dugout canoe in June in Lake Mendota, celebrates the recovery Tuesday with Jim Skibo, Wisconsin's state archaeologist. The canoe was placed in an enclosed trailer for its trip from Spring Harbor Beach to the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison's Near East Side.
Dugout canoe
Spectators watch as a 1,200-year-oid dugout canoe makes its way across Lake Mendota to Spring Harbor Beach.
Dugout canoe
A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was raised from Lake Mendota Tuesday by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe was discovered in June during a recreational dive and is the oldest intact boat ever recovered from Wisconsin waters. The canoe will undergo preservation efforts over the next two years before it can be displayed in a museum.
Dugout canoe
Spectators watch as a 1,200-year-oid dugout canoe crafted by members of the Native American Ho-Chunk tribe from Lake Mendota near Spring Harbor Beach in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Dugout canoe
A dugout canoe crafted in A.D. 800 was towed for most of its 1-mile trip to shore but guided by divers in shallow water for the final 100 yards or so to Spring Harbor Beach.
Dugout canoe
Bystanders watch as yellow floats are used to bring a dugout canoe to Spring Harbor Beach. The 1-mile trip took nearly two hours.
Dugout canoe
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist who discovered the Native American dugout canoe in June in Lake Mendota, celebrates the recovery Tuesday with Jim Skibo, Wisconsin's state archaeologist. The canoe was placed in an enclosed trailer for its trip from Spring Harbor Beach to the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison's Near East Side.
Dugout canoe
A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was raised from Lake Mendota Tuesday by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe was discovered in June during a recreational dive and is the oldest intact boat ever recovered from Wisconsin waters. The canoe will undergo preservation efforts over the next two years before it can be displayed in a museum.
Dugout canoe
A dugout canoe crafted in A.D. 800 was towed for most of its 1-mile trip to shore but guided by divers in shallow water for the final 100 yards or so to Spring Harbor Beach.
A microscopic view of a fragment of white oak from a dugout canoe discovered on the bottom of Lake Mendota. Other canoes discovered have been made with elm, red oak, ash and cottonwood trees.
The 3,000-year-old dugout canoe as it appeared on the floor of Lake Mendota in 2022. When it was removed, another canoe was found underneath.
Archaeologists from the Wisconsin Historical Society float a recovered 3,000-year-old dugout canoe on Lake Mendota to Spring Harbor Beach in fall 2022.
Dugout canoes still have another year of conservation
Ancient Lake Mendota canoes take another step for eventual display
The room is filled with some of the most recognizable pieces of Wisconsin history.
There's a ski boat from the Tommy Bartlett Show in Wisconsin Dells, an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile from Madison, a vintage Culver's sign from Sauk City and an ice shack — in Green Bay Packers colors — from which Bill Casper of Fond du Lac used to spear sturgeon on Lake Winnebago.
Scott Roller, collections manager for the Wisconsin Historical Society, adds polyethylene glycol to a tank holding a pair of ancient Native American dugout canoes and pieces from other canoes recovered from Lake Mendota. The two-year glycol process that started in February 2024 at the State Archive Preservation Facility is designed to push water out of the ancient wood so that the canoes can one day be put on permanent display. And yes, that's an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in the background.
Historic steam locomotive to return to Mid-Continent Railway Museum
A 1957 CorrectCraft boat designed for the former Tommy Bartlett Water Show in Wisconsin Dells shares space in a room at the State Archive Preservation Facility in Madison with a conservation tank that holds the remains of ancient canoes found in Lake Mendota. The canoes and canoe pieces will remain in the tank of water and polyethylene glycol for another year before they are freeze-dried in spring 2026 at Texas A&M University.
Samantha Sauer, director of collections care and access at the Wisconsin Historical Society, positions a camera for a livestream Friday at the State Archive Preservation Facility in Madison showing one of the final steps for conserving the canoes and canoe pieces.
Wisconsin potato farm shines in Super Bowl ad
Wisconsin State Archaeologist Amy Rosebrough, right, talks with Lisa Yeh of the Wisconsin Historical Society as they watch polyethylene glycol dribble into a conservation tank holding ancient canoes and canoe pieces.
Polyethylene glycol is added to a tank holding a pair of ancient Native American dugout canoes and pieces of other canoes recovered from Lake Mendota.
Tamara Thomsen, a marine archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society, with the tank that holds the ancient canoes and canoe pieces she found in Lake Mendota between 2021 and 2023.
Photos: Dugout canoe recovered from Lake Mendota after 1,200 years
Dugout canoe
Randy Wallander, a volunteer diver from Manitowoc, unloads gear for the dive. Wallander specializes in bringing up sunken objects, usually in Lake Michigan.
Dugout canoe
Members of the dive team from the Dane County Sheriff's Office were among those who took part in Tuesday's dive near Shorewood Hills.
Dougout canoe
Divers prepare to remove a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe from Lake Mendota on Tuesday.
Dugout canoe
Dugout canoe
Divers converged on Lake Mendota Tuesday to recover a dugout canoe that hadn't been to the surface in 1,200 years.
Dugout canoe
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist who discovered the Native American dugout canoe in June in Lake Mendota, celebrates the recovery Tuesday with Jim Skibo, Wisconsin's state archaeologist. The canoe was placed in an enclosed trailer for its trip from Spring Harbor Beach to the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison's Near East Side.
Dugout canoe
Spectators watch as a 1,200-year-oid dugout canoe makes its way across Lake Mendota to Spring Harbor Beach.
Dugout canoe
A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was raised from Lake Mendota Tuesday by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe was discovered in June during a recreational dive and is the oldest intact boat ever recovered from Wisconsin waters. The canoe will undergo preservation efforts over the next two years before it can be displayed in a museum.
Dugout canoe
Spectators watch as a 1,200-year-oid dugout canoe crafted by members of the Native American Ho-Chunk tribe from Lake Mendota near Spring Harbor Beach in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Dugout canoe
A dugout canoe crafted in A.D. 800 was towed for most of its 1-mile trip to shore but guided by divers in shallow water for the final 100 yards or so to Spring Harbor Beach.
Dugout canoe
Bystanders watch as yellow floats are used to bring a dugout canoe to Spring Harbor Beach. The 1-mile trip took nearly two hours.
Dugout canoe
Tamara Thomsen, a maritime archaeologist who discovered the Native American dugout canoe in June in Lake Mendota, celebrates the recovery Tuesday with Jim Skibo, Wisconsin's state archaeologist. The canoe was placed in an enclosed trailer for its trip from Spring Harbor Beach to the State Archive Preservation Facility on Madison's Near East Side.
Dugout canoe
A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was raised from Lake Mendota Tuesday by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The canoe was discovered in June during a recreational dive and is the oldest intact boat ever recovered from Wisconsin waters. The canoe will undergo preservation efforts over the next two years before it can be displayed in a museum.
Dugout canoe
A dugout canoe crafted in A.D. 800 was towed for most of its 1-mile trip to shore but guided by divers in shallow water for the final 100 yards or so to Spring Harbor Beach.
Dugout canoes in Lake Mendota
A 5,200-year-old canoe was among 6 found in Lake Mendota this year
The secrets of Lake Mendota continue to be revealed.
The latest cache of ancient canoes discovered in the spring includes one estimated to be around 5,200 years old. It is now the oldest dugout canoe recorded from the Great Lakes region and the third-oldest in eastern North America, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
This wood remnant from a dugout canoe is believed to be about 1,700 years old and was found in lake Mendota this spring near Shorewood Hills.
Watch now: A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe is raised from Lake Mendota
Tamara Thomsen discovered a 5,200-year-old dugout canoe in June in Lake Mendota. The canoe is made of red oak and is older than the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Complete coverage: Ancient canoes in Lake Mendota
This map shows the locations of where 16 canoes have been found beginning in 2021 between the Shorewood Hills shoreline and Spring Harbor.
This 3,800-year-old canoe made from a red oak tree was found upside down in Lake Mendota near Shorewood Hills. On top of the canoe sits stones used to weigh down fishing nets.
This baggie contains small fragments from what was later determined through radio carbon dating to be a 5,200-year-old dugout canoe. The fragments were shipped to a lab in Miami for dating.
Learn more about the dugout canoes.
