Wisconsin divers reveal mysterious underwater parking lot of ancient canoes preserved for millennia

Wisconsin officials precocious announced the find of a trove of past canoes successful an underwater "parking lot" of sorts — including 1 that predates the Pyramids of Giza.

The Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) announced this period that its experts person identified 14 canoes successful Madison's Lake Mendota truthful far, six of which were recovered this spring. The WHS worked with the First Nations of Wisconsin during the probe process, a merchandise noted.

The WHS besides recovered a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe successful 2021 and retrieved different 3,000-year-old 1 successful 2022.

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All successful all, the oldest canoe is 5,200 years old, portion the astir caller 1 dates backmost to the 1300s A.D. The vessels were utilized to drawback fish, marque question much businesslike and facilitate trade, the WHS said.

"The scenery astir Madison lakes looked precise antithetic earlier European settlers arrived successful the country and conducted terraforming to suit modern transportation, with ample bluffs that made traveling implicit the onshore hard successful immoderate areas," the connection noted.

The Wisconsin Historical Society is studying the unusually ample cache of canoes aft identifying 14 vessels preserved beneath Lake Mendota. (Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society; Wisconsin Historical Society)

"Canoe question whitethorn person been much businesslike for definite routes for the communities who lived successful the country spanning thousands of years earlier Wisconsin became a state," the connection besides said. 

WHS maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen told Fox News Digital the canoes were preserved by being buried nether Lake Mendota for thousands of years.

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"The canoes person each been recovered eroding from a slope underwater, successful astir 25 feet of water," said Thomsen. "They survived due to the fact that they remained buried for truthful galore millennia."

There are nary existent plans to retrieve the 14 canoes that stay underwater, Thomsen added. The 2 that person been retrieved, however, are slated to beryllium included successful a depository show astatine the Wisconsin History Center successful 2027.

The canoes survived due to the fact that they remained buried successful heavy h2o for millennia, according to a maritime archaeologist.  (Wisconsin Historical Society; Dean Witter, Wisconsin Historical Society)

"The oldest Lake Mendota canoe identified to day was apt crafted sometime astir 3000 B.C., earlier the Great Pyramid of Giza was built successful Egypt, and astir the clip of the invention of penning successful Sumer," she added.

"Constructed of reddish oak, it is present the oldest dugout canoe recorded from the Great Lakes portion and the 3rd oldest successful eastbound North America."

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The cache is uncommon successful the Midwest, arsenic specified discoveries are much communal successful the Southeast.

"This is the lone cache of canoes that has truthful acold been discovered successful Wisconsin," the archaeologist said.

The canoes’ operation reflects aboriginal forms of bioengineering agelong earlier the modern word existed, said experts.  (Wisconsin Historical Society)

The WHS besides said the canoes were made of either reddish oregon achromatic oak — funny choices, arsenic they thin to beryllium water-absorbent.

Thomsen speculated that the builders whitethorn person intentionally selected trees that were damaged, oregon whitethorn person damaged them connected intent to interaction their maturation cycle.

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"We deliberation of bioengineering arsenic a modern practice, but the samples we person suggest this whitethorn person been taking spot agelong earlier the word was coined successful the mid-20th century," she said.

"Archaeology is benignant of similar putting unneurotic pieces of a puzzle, and the much pieces you tin find, the amended you tin commencement to signifier a representation of what was going connected and wherefore during a play of history," Thomsen added.

"This is the lone cache of canoes that has truthful acold been discovered successful Wisconsin," said maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen. (Tamara Thomsen, Wisconsin Historical Society)

Bill Quackenbush, a tribal historical preservation serviceman for the Ho-Chunk Nation, said the task "gives america a meaningful accidental to summation a deeper position connected our practice and our ancestors."

He added, "It is important that we papers and stock these stories, truthful that our younker consciousness that transportation to our past."

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"Protecting and preserving this cognition ensures that the adjacent procreation understands wherever we travel from and wherefore these stories matter. That is wherefore we stock them and proceed this work."