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A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe has been pulled from the depths of Lake Mendota in Wisconsin.
The 15-foot-long vessel was discovered 30 feet below the surface earlier this year, but archaeologists pulled it ashore for the first time on Tuesday.
The canoe was created by ancestors of the Ho-Chunk Nation, who are referred to as ‘People of the Big Water’ and still exist today.
Christian Overland, the Ruth and Hartley Barker director & CEO for the Wisconsin Historical Society, said in a statement obtained by Dailymail.com: 'The dugout canoe found in Lake Mendota is a significant artifact of the continuum of canoe culture in the Western Great Lakes region.'
'The canoe is a remarkable artifact, made from a single tree, that connects us to the people living in this region 1,200 years ago.
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A 1,200-year-old dugout canoe has been pulled from the depths of Lake Mendota in Wisconsin
A dugout canoe is constructed by hallowing out a tree and the one found in Wisconsin was constructed from a bass wood or walnut tree, which were commonly used at the time.
After cutting the tree and sculpting the canoe, natives would burn the seating area and scrape out the charcoal with stone tools to create a softer feel on the inside.
Bill Quackenbush, the Ho-Chunk’s tribal historic preservation officer, told the State Journal: ‘When it comes to items of this nature, if it’s going to protect and preserve the history and culture of us in this area, we’re all in support of that.
