New tests reveal that this dugout canoe, found in Lake Minnetonka in 1934 and thought to date from the 1750s, is almost 1,000 years old. “It totally shocked us,” said Russ Ferrin, left. Photo: Brian Peterson
Posted on 04/11/2014 9:38:33 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The canoe, made from a hollowed tree trunk by some of the earliest American Indians to live on the lake and in the state, was initially dated to about 1750. But recent radiocarbon testing now dates it to between 1025 and 1165 — making it one of the oldest watercraft finds in the state...
The canoe was discovered in 1934 as a family was building a dock on the shore of Lake Minnetonka’s North Arm in Orono. Severe drought had dropped the lake below normal water levels, and one of the dock posts hit what family members thought was a log. They unearthed it and discovered it was the well-preserved dugout canoe, long embedded in the lake’s silt and mud.
The canoe has bounced around to different museums and been lent to various groups.
When no one else had space — or, perhaps, interest — the Western Hennepin County Pioneer Association took it in 1961, adding it to the dozens of family heirlooms and antiques that people have discarded, such as tea cups, a war flag, even a moose shot by Theodore Roosevelt that another museum didn’t want...
Last year, St. Paul nautical archaeologists Ann Merriman and Chris Olson came across it. Intrigued, they set out to study it and seven other dugout canoes in Minnesota...
With a $9,000 state grant, the couple researched and did radiocarbon analysis on the canoes found across the state, from the Minnesota River in Bloomington to Dutch Lake in northern Minnesota.
The study, released Tuesday by Maritime Heritage Minnesota, determined that the Lake Minnetonka canoe, which is 11 feet by nearly 1.5 feet, is the oldest. It’s also in good condition despite some deterioration since it was unearthed; it’s lost small pieces and a large crack splits it.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
New tests reveal that this dugout canoe, found in Lake Minnetonka in 1934 and thought to date from the 1750s, is almost 1,000 years old. “It totally shocked us,” said Russ Ferrin, left. Photo: Brian Peterson
Fishing for Muskies. Caught a big one and was pulled down......
Model and Serial Number. Usually a metal plate is mounted on the stern.
Silly.
Took it, Just took it. I sure hope the guy that left it there doesn't need it again.
Head shaking.
It doesn’t look seaworthy. Did the Marxist fascists therefore legislate 22,374 new government regulations for canoes?
Cause it doesn’t have ram horns on it.
“It doesn’t look seaworthy.”
Perhaps that is why it was at the bottom of a lake.
Not sure I would recognize it as a canoe if I dug it up
So it was purified in the waters of Lake Minnetonka?
it's license was not revoked for DUI.
Wouldn’t the test show how old the tree was from which the canoe was carved, not when the carving was done? Or am I missing something?
It would show when the tree tissue last lived.
18” wide on the beam. No fast-food butts back then.
“18 inches is about the width of the pilot’s seat in a Vietnam era Huey Cobra attack chopper I saw in a museum.
LOL! You’re all pretty good. But the best one was last.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources determined an additional 700 years of boat fees was due.
it’s license was not revoked for DUI.
Is that “Diving Under the Influence”?
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