MADISON, Wis. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A very old Native American canoe built from a hollowed out log was pulled from a lake in Wisconsin Tuesday to be preserved.
Amy Rosebrough, an archeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society said the canoe is "extraordinarily rare" and the carbon dating of the wood puts the age of the canoe at about 1,200 years old.
"We really don't have anything like this from Wisconsin. We have found pieces of dugouts before."
She said there were what are thought to be stone tools called net sinkers used for fishing still in the canoe.
Tamara Thomsen, another archeologist with the Historical Society told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she discovered the canoe while scuba diving over the summer.
“I’m underwater an awful lot,” she said. “I’ve never seen this underwater (before) and I don’t think I’ll ever get to again in my career.”
The canoe will now be put through a long preservation process. It's believed to be the oldest intact dugout canoe ever found in Wisconsin.
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