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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →A volunteer trash-cleanup dive in Pewaukee Lake, Wisconsin, led diver Mark Schachtner to an unexpected find: a white-oak dugout canoe resting about 15 feet below the surface. Radiocarbon testing gives it a 70% chance of dating to 992–1049 C.E.—a probability range, not an exact construction date. The canoe has not been recovered, and the Wisconsin Historical Society plans to leave it underwater.
How did the diver find the canoe?
On May 6, 2026, Mark Schachtner, a Beaver Dam diver and member of the Four Seasons Dive Club, was taking part in a volunteer trash-cleanup dive in Pewaukee Lake. He noticed a long object protruding from the lakebed and recognized that it might be significant. He contacted Wisconsin Historical Society maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen. Smithsonian Magazine reported the discovery and follow-up.
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Five days later, Schachtner and Thomsen returned to document the vessel with measurements, photographs and video, and to collect a small wood sample for analysis. The discovery was made during a cleanup, not a planned archaeological expedition.
How old is the Pewaukee Lake canoe?
Radiocarbon testing indicates a 70% chance that the canoe was made between 992 and 1049 C.E., according to Wisconsin Public Radio’s reporting. That is a probability range, not a confirmed year or a statement that the canoe is certainly from that interval. The range falls within Wisconsin’s Late Woodland period.
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The date places the canoe in a period associated in Wisconsin with effigy mound building. WPR also describes settlements and trade connected with Cahokian people, including at Aztalan, during this broader historical context. The available evidence does not identify who made or used this particular canoe.
What is the canoe made of, and what condition is it in?
Analysis identified the wood as white oak. The vessel is reported to be 17.3 feet long, about 1.8 feet wide at its thickest point, with walls roughly 2.5 inches thick and a bottom about 4.8 inches thick. It rests approximately 15 feet beneath the lake surface, is partly filled with sediment, and has been described as intact and in good condition.
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WPR reports char marks on the bottom and scraping that may have come from stone tools or shells. Those observations do not establish a specific tool or use history. Ho-Chunk Nation president Jon Greendeer noted that dugouts could have served for fishing and carrying materials as well as transportation, and reflected, “You can imagine how much work went into each one of these.”
Why might the canoe have been sunk?
Thomsen told WPR that sediment filling is consistent with intentional caching: canoes could be sunk and allowed to fill with sediment, then dug out later and dried enough to use. She described the form as “a classic look for a canoe that had been cached, something that had been intentionally sunk.” This is an interpretation of the evidence, not proof of how this specific canoe was used or why it came to rest in the lake.
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Why will the canoe stay underwater?
The Wisconsin Historical Society is consulting Larry Plucinski, tribal historic preservation officer for the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and Bill Quackenbush, retired tribal historic preservation officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation. Indigenous nations wish for the canoe to remain in place. Plucinski described the historical understanding of shared use in a quotation reported by Smithsonian Magazine: “It was just common knowledge that nobody owned it,” and, “If you needed it, you used it.”
Leaving the canoe submerged also supports its physical preservation. The Society notes that waterlogged wood recovered from a lake requires intensive conservation; removal is not simply a matter of lifting the object out. Wisconsin DNR guidance explains protections for submerged cultural resources and the prohibition on unauthorized disturbance: Wisconsin DNR: Submerged resources.
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Where was it found, and can divers visit or remove it?
The canoe was found in Pewaukee Lake, but its precise location has not been made public. The Wisconsin Historical Society does not plan to recover it. WPR reports that divers may not remove artifacts and that the site is protected under Wisconsin law. Do not attempt to locate, disturb or take anything from the site.
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