* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Monday, July 28, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Micro wrestling coming to NE Ohio – Cleveland.com

    Get Ready, NE Ohio: Micro Wrestling Is Making Its Exciting Debut!

    League City seeking proposals for 53-acre entertainment district on sportsplex land – galvnews.com

    League City Invites Proposals to Transform 53-Acre Sportsplex into Vibrant Entertainment District

    Top 5 entertainment news: Sandeep Reddy Vanga regrets trimming Animal’s runtime by 7-8 minutes, Akshay Ku – Times of India

    Top 5 Entertainment Highlights: Sandeep Reddy Vanga Reveals Why He Trimmed Animal’s Runtime by 7-8 Minutes, Plus Akshay Ku Updates

    Cote de Pablo reveals how Michael Weatherly used his soap opera roots to put her at ease in “NCIS” love scene – yahoo.com

    Cote de Pablo Reveals How Michael Weatherly’s Soap Opera Background Made Their “NCIS” Love Scene Easier

    City of Pelham announces entertainment district plans for former Oak Mountain Amphitheatre site – WVTM

    Pelham Unveils Exciting New Entertainment District Plans for Former Oak Mountain Amphitheatre Site

    Black Box Players presents ‘The Three Musketeers’ – CBS 19 News

    Experience the Adventure: Black Box Players Bring ‘The Three Musketeers’ to Life!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    AI’s race in the dark with China – Axios

    The High-Stakes AI Race: Innovation and Competition in the Shadows

    Eagle Unveils Revolutionary X-Ray Technology at Pack Expo

    Validea’s Top Information Technology Stocks Based On Peter Lynch – 7/25/2025 – Nasdaq

    Validea’s Top Information Technology Stocks Based On Peter Lynch – 7/25/2025 – Nasdaq

    WhoFi: New surveillance technology can track people by how they disrupt Wi-Fi signals – Tech Xplore

    WhoFi: New surveillance technology can track people by how they disrupt Wi-Fi signals – Tech Xplore

    Google Cloud Announced as a Key Technology Partner for Odoo Connect 2025 in San Francisco – GlobeNewswire

    Google Cloud Announced as a Key Technology Partner for Odoo Connect 2025 in San Francisco – GlobeNewswire

    Behind the Screens: The Impact of Technology on Real Estate – TRREB

    Behind the Screens: How Technology is Transforming the Future of Real Estate

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Micro wrestling coming to NE Ohio – Cleveland.com

    Get Ready, NE Ohio: Micro Wrestling Is Making Its Exciting Debut!

    League City seeking proposals for 53-acre entertainment district on sportsplex land – galvnews.com

    League City Invites Proposals to Transform 53-Acre Sportsplex into Vibrant Entertainment District

    Top 5 entertainment news: Sandeep Reddy Vanga regrets trimming Animal’s runtime by 7-8 minutes, Akshay Ku – Times of India

    Top 5 Entertainment Highlights: Sandeep Reddy Vanga Reveals Why He Trimmed Animal’s Runtime by 7-8 Minutes, Plus Akshay Ku Updates

    Cote de Pablo reveals how Michael Weatherly used his soap opera roots to put her at ease in “NCIS” love scene – yahoo.com

    Cote de Pablo Reveals How Michael Weatherly’s Soap Opera Background Made Their “NCIS” Love Scene Easier

    City of Pelham announces entertainment district plans for former Oak Mountain Amphitheatre site – WVTM

    Pelham Unveils Exciting New Entertainment District Plans for Former Oak Mountain Amphitheatre Site

    Black Box Players presents ‘The Three Musketeers’ – CBS 19 News

    Experience the Adventure: Black Box Players Bring ‘The Three Musketeers’ to Life!

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    AI’s race in the dark with China – Axios

    The High-Stakes AI Race: Innovation and Competition in the Shadows

    Eagle Unveils Revolutionary X-Ray Technology at Pack Expo

    Validea’s Top Information Technology Stocks Based On Peter Lynch – 7/25/2025 – Nasdaq

    Validea’s Top Information Technology Stocks Based On Peter Lynch – 7/25/2025 – Nasdaq

    WhoFi: New surveillance technology can track people by how they disrupt Wi-Fi signals – Tech Xplore

    WhoFi: New surveillance technology can track people by how they disrupt Wi-Fi signals – Tech Xplore

    Google Cloud Announced as a Key Technology Partner for Odoo Connect 2025 in San Francisco – GlobeNewswire

    Google Cloud Announced as a Key Technology Partner for Odoo Connect 2025 in San Francisco – GlobeNewswire

    Behind the Screens: The Impact of Technology on Real Estate – TRREB

    Behind the Screens: How Technology is Transforming the Future of Real Estate

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

An Indigenous ‘metropolis’ may be hidden under this Wisconsin lake

August 8, 2023
in Science
An Indigenous ‘metropolis’ may be hidden under this Wisconsin lake
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

ByJacqueline Kehoe

Published August 7, 2023

• 9 min read

One hundred seventy-five years ago, Indigenous sites blanketed the American Midwest like stars blanket the sky—there were some 15,000 burial mounds scattered across Wisconsin alone. European settlers largely destroyed these sites as they moved west across the continent in the 19th and 20th centuries, leaving cornfields and courthouses in their stead. 

But there’s one part of ancient America that remained mostly untouched by the destructive force of modern settlement: underwater. A lake in the middle of Wisconsin’s capital city exemplifies this world, turning up incredible artifacts spanning thousands of years. Now that researchers suspect a village, they’re fighting against all odds to unearth more.

A canoe from the time of the Vikings

In June 2021, Wisconsin maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen was “chasing fish and picking up trash” on a routine dive in Madison’s Lake Mendota, when she thought she spotted the end of a dugout canoe jutting out of a now-submerged former shoreline. Amy Rosebrough, interim state archaeologist for the Wisconsin Historical Society, was called for a second opinion and agreed on the canoe identification, additionally pointing out seven rocks found inside the hull: net sinkers. Fishing gear.

The half-buried cache in the city’s largest lake remained a murky, hush-hush secret until state archaeologist Jim Skibo came on board in July 2021, quickly procuring funding to retrieve and date the canoe. The bets among archaeologists were flying: Thomsen’s money was on a 1950s-era Boy Scout canoe (“because it’s so nice-looking”); Rosebrough hoped for something older—maybe 300 years?

No one guessed the wood sample taken from the dugout would come back with a carbon date circa A.D. 850, revealing that the canoe was carved from a white oak felled during the era of Viking raids and the reign of Charlemagne. The 1,200-year-old discovery made international headlines—and then, in essentially the same spot less than a year later, Thomsen found another.

At 3,000 years old, Thomsen’s next Lake Mendota discovery would become the second-oldest dugout canoe found in the U.S., fashioned from an elm that thrived in dry, open savanna. (The oldest, in Florida, dates back 7,000 years.) Though both vessels can be traced to the Indigenous Ho-Chunk, their makers span epochs: We’re closer in time to the paddler of the 1,200-year-old canoe, Rosebrough notes, than they are to the paddler of the 3,000-year-old canoe. 

The finds are no surprise to Bill Quackenbush, the tribal historic preservation officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation onsite for both canoe retrievals. Ho-Chunk oral history states that the tribe has been in Dejope—“land of four lakes” in the Hoocąk language—since the retreat of the glaciers, and science is coming to agree. “People don’t give native cultures much credit for their oral processes,” he says. “When science goes in and verifies something we’ve been talking about for thousands of years, they’re shocked we’ve held onto that history.”

But beyond supporting the tribe’s oral knowledge, he adds, artifacts like these help tribal members rediscover their own cultural connection to the area. With the Ho-Chunk forced to relocate four separate times throughout the 1800s, “when a physical item shows our continued presence in the area, we’re just as excited as the next.”

It won’t be the last discovery, says Quackenbush. “My ancestors were living here up until the removal periods. There’s definitely more artifacts down there.” 

A new realm for archaeology

The obstacles to doing archaeology in urban lakes like Mendota are staggering: Mendota’s waters are murky for most of the year, requiring divers to excavate mostly blind in the silt and mud, searching for artifacts that may be covered with invasive zebra mussels. But what really incenses a pro like Thomsen is the lack of knowledge around dive flags—she gets consistently run over by boaters and wakeboarders. “It’s…not a happy place to dive.”

Then there’s retrieval. In November 2021, the 12-person crew tasked with recovering the 1,200-year-old canoe was operating in snow and racing against the creeping ice cover. They could’ve called in outside experts, but few exist for this scenario—and funding was limited. A borrowed Alaskan gold-mining pump was used to dredge the site; Skibo, the project’s head, even got scuba-certified to aid his team in the physical labor.

And then COVID stopped everything. The researchers needed a custom-built conservation tank where they could soak the wooden vessel in a special preservation fluid; when they couldn’t find a carpenter, Skibo built one himself. When it was time to fill the tank with polyethylene glycol, a bulking agent that supports the cell structure of wood, there was none to be found—it’s a key ingredient in COVID-19 vaccines. 

Then the second dugout canoe was discovered—in May 2022—and the arduous process had to be repeated. This time, the canoe was 1,800 years older, broken into some 30 pieces, and spongy. Thomsen describes it as handling “wet cardboard.” 

Those obstacles, however, would abruptly seem trivial. Skibo—well-known and well-loved among Wisconsinites as “the people’s archaeologist”—suffered fatal complications during a routine dive in Lake Mendota searching for artifacts on April 14th, 2023. He was 63 years old.

“As far as I’m concerned,” says Rosebrough, “he died in the line of duty. He was doing what he loved. In archaeology, we really can’t ask for more than that.” 

The search for an Indigenous ‘metropolis’

In the months following the tragic death of the state archaeologist, Skibo’s team continues his work—but with a twist. Beyond surveying for ancient canoes in the bottom of Lake Mendota, they’ll analyze the surface via ground-penetrating technology (GPR). They’ll also be looking for other evidence of human activity, like hearths or garbage deposits. 

Like Quackenbush, Skibo reckoned a lot more is to be found under Lake Mendota’s glossy surface. His “number one hypothesis”: an Indigenous village worthy of Unesco recognition—or at least a place on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Ho-Chunk oral history supports Skibo’s hypothesis—sort of. The current scientific assumption is that some 22 Ho-Chunk villages once surrounded Lake Mendota, with more extending across the chain of lakes Monona, Kegonsa, Wingra, and Waubesa. Quackenbush, however, counters with a crucial clarification: Dejope was one large living community. “Madison was a metropolis for us, just like it is for today’s society. It was hundreds of thousands of people, from the last glacial episode through the present day.”

The two dugout canoes will eventually go on display at a state history center scheduled to open in 2026, just a few blocks from Lake Mendota. A 3-D printed replica of the 1,200-year-old canoe will be on-site for hands-on discovery, demonstrating how a thousand years can pass across Dejope lands and yet, as Quackenbush notes, “here we sit…around those same lakes.”

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : National Geographic – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/wisconsin-canoe-lake-mendota-archaeology-skibo-ho-chunk

Tags: IndigenousMetropolisscience
Previous Post

What is Hospitality Financial Leadership?

Next Post

Activists call it rescue. Farms call it stealing. What is ‘open rescue’?

Pine Park Becomes a Cold-Weather Ecology Lab – Dartmouth

Pine Park Becomes a Cold-Weather Ecology Lab – Dartmouth

July 28, 2025
National Science Foundation staff decry Trump’s ‘politically motivated’ cuts – The Guardian

National Science Foundation Staff Rally Against Politically Motivated Budget Cuts Under Trump

July 28, 2025
Test Yourself on Science Fiction That Became Reality – The New York Times

Can You Believe These Science Fiction Ideas Are Now Reality?

July 28, 2025
At 35, wobbling on a bike, I met the child I never got to be – VegOut

At 35, Wobbling on a Bike, I Rediscovered the Child I Never Got to Be

July 28, 2025
In a stressful human world, ‘mermaiding’ gains popularity in D.C. area – The Washington Post

Escape Stress with the Magical World of Mermaiding: A Growing Trend in the D.C. Area

July 28, 2025

Iran’s Economy in Crisis: Soaring Inflation and Collapsing Investments Shake the Nation

July 28, 2025
Micro wrestling coming to NE Ohio – Cleveland.com

Get Ready, NE Ohio: Micro Wrestling Is Making Its Exciting Debut!

July 28, 2025
Pacific Mind Health Releases 5-Minute Mental Health Check-In Toolkit – Yahoo Finance

Boost Your Wellbeing with the New 5-Minute Mental Health Check-In Toolkit

July 28, 2025
‘Adapt … or we’re in danger of becoming extinct’: See Rep. Torres’ warning for Democrats – CNN

Adapt or Face Extinction: Rep. Torres Delivers Stark Warning to Democrats

July 28, 2025
U.S. House Passes Florida Congressman’s Consumer Safety Technology Act – West Orlando News

U.S. House Passes Landmark Consumer Safety Technology Act Introduced by Florida Congressman

July 28, 2025

Categories

Archives

July 2025
MTWTFSS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
« Jun    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (743)
  • Economy (767)
  • Entertainment (21,647)
  • General (16,155)
  • Health (9,804)
  • Lifestyle (775)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (769)
  • Politics (776)
  • Science (15,981)
  • Sports (21,264)
  • Technology (15,747)
  • World (750)

Recent News

Pine Park Becomes a Cold-Weather Ecology Lab – Dartmouth

Pine Park Becomes a Cold-Weather Ecology Lab – Dartmouth

July 28, 2025
National Science Foundation staff decry Trump’s ‘politically motivated’ cuts – The Guardian

National Science Foundation Staff Rally Against Politically Motivated Budget Cuts Under Trump

July 28, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version