The Oldest Canoes Ever Unearthed in the Americas Found in Wisconsin Lake
- Notes From The Frontier
- Nov 21
- 3 min read
Sixteen canoes–one 5,200 years old, as old as the Great Pyramids–are discovered in Wisconsin's Lake Mendota
Lake Mendota in Wisconsin's capitol, Madison, has long been a treasure trove of ancient Native artifacts and dugout canoes preserved in its waters and lakebed. In 2021, a 1,200-year-old dugout canoe was discovered. In 2022, deeper in the lake's bed, a 3,000-year-old canoe was uncovered. Recently, on November 19, 2025, a virtual "parking lot of canoes"–sixteen of them–were excavated. by archeologists of The Wisconsin Historical Society. The oldest–a stunning 5,200-year-old canoe believed to be from the Ho-Chunk tribe, is as old as the Egypt's Great Pyramids!
Archeologists and Native scholars now believe that Lake Mendota served as a "canoe parking lot" and "rideshare center" for ancient Native Americans.
Wisconsin Historical Society maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen, in partnership with First Nations of Wisconsin and University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Sissel Schroeder, "has been on a mission to chart the locations of more canoes in Lake Mendota since her unexpected finding of a 1,200 year-old dugout canoe in 2021," according to the press release.
"Archeology is kind of like putting together pieces of a puzzle, and the more pieces you can find, the better you can start to form a picture of what was going on and why during a period of history,” said Thomsen said in the release. “We can’t go back in time to get answers to our questions, but we can examine the available data alongside knowledge from First Nations and cultural history to form theories to answer our questions."
"The canoes were likely not owned by individuals, but rather shared among members of communities and stored at designated points, similar to how modern community bike sharing programs utilize docking stations for users to store bikes between riders," the press release states.
“The canoes give us insight into a sophisticated travel network and interconnected communities who used their incredible skills and knowledge to live and thrive on lands where we still live and thrive today. They reflect a deep relationship with the environment and the ingenuity of our ancestors,” said Larry Plucinski, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, in the release. “Sharing what we learn from this project honors the innovators whose knowledge lives on and inspires new generations to feel pride for their for their ancestors."
Read more about these amazing discoveries at these links:
Smithsonian Magazine:
Archaeologists Are Finding Dugout Canoes in the American Midwest as Old as the Great Pyramids of Egypt
Wisconsin Public Radio:
Even more ancient canoes have been found in Lake Mendota. One is more than 5,000 years old.
Associated Press News:
Wisconsin archaeologists identify 16 ancient canoes in a prehistoric lake ‘parking lot’
You may also be interested in these related posts:
• Beneath All of Us is Native American History
• Native American Sacred Places
• "My Childhood Haunts: Indian Mounds"
• "States with Indian Names"
• "America's Earliest Cities Were Native"
• "Today's Largest Indian Tribes"
"The Oldest Canoes Ever Unearthed in the Americas" was first posted on Facebook and Notes from the Frontier on Saturday, November 22, 2025
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