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45-Foot Ancient Canoe Stuck In Muck Of Weedon Island (Tampa Bay)
MSNBC - Tampa Tribune ^ | 5-5-2008 | KEITH MORELLI

Posted on 05/06/2008 10:48:16 AM PDT by blam

45-Foot Ancient Canoe Stuck In The Muck Of Weedon Island

Tampa Bay Online
updated 3:10 p.m. CT, Mon., May. 5, 2008
By KEITH MORELLI of The Tampa Tribune

ST. PETERSBURG - Stuck somewhere in the muck of Weedon Island is a significant piece of history.

A 45-foot canoe, buried for more than a thousand years and used by a long-dead culture of Native Americans, worked its way to the surface, and now authorities are trying to figure out how best to preserve it.

The vessel is carved out of a single pine tree, and archaeologists say it was used to paddle over the open waters of the bay — unlike the other ancient canoes uncovered in Florida over the years, which were used to ply the calmer waters of lakes and rivers.

With the back end of the canoe broken off, it measures 39 feet, 11 inches. If the missing piece was attached, archaeologists estimate 5 more feet would be added to the length. The size of the vessel and configuration of the bow leads archaeologists to think the vessel may have been used to trade with people living some distance away.

"It's the longest prehistoric canoe ever found in the state of Florida," said Weedon Island Preserve Center manager Phyllis Kolianos.

"I think it's fascinating," she said this morning. "I think it's a very important find, and it's very significant. It gives us an understanding that these weren't simple people living here, that they were probably trading with other cultures."

The dugout is the first pre-Columbian seagoing vessel uncovered in Florida. It points to a culture that thrived in what would become the Tampa Bay area and traded with others along the Gulf of Mexico coast and beyond. The influence of the Weedon Island culture

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ancient; canoe; florida; godsgravesglyphs; indians
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To: HD1200

This is why you have to shread every scrap of paper today... The historians of the future will dig it out of trash heaps, reconstitute your DNA, and ask you annoying questions about what you used “this” for...


21 posted on 05/06/2008 11:02:15 AM PDT by weegee ("I didn't kill innocent people." - Bill Ayers, Weatherman. Terrorist. Obama's comrade.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

They were advanced enough NOT to use petrified wood for their canoes.


22 posted on 05/06/2008 11:02:58 AM PDT by weegee ("I didn't kill innocent people." - Bill Ayers, Weatherman. Terrorist. Obama's comrade.)
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To: Red Badger; Ditto
“You ever try to hollow out a 50 foot tree?........”

In most cases before the advent of iron tools, fire was used to burn out most of the wood using hot coals.

23 posted on 05/06/2008 11:04:25 AM PDT by Beagle8U (FreeRepublic -- One stop shopping ....... Its the Conservative Super WalMart for news .)
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To: Red Badger
Check out these Floridians:

Bye, Bye Beringia (8,000 Year Old Site In Florida)

* 90 intact human brains that include the oldest DNA samples in the World.

24 posted on 05/06/2008 11:07:41 AM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: Ditto
You ever try to hollow out a 50 foot tree?........ with stone tools no less!

It's not like they had to squeeze it in between American Idol and Dancing with the Stars.

25 posted on 05/06/2008 11:08:43 AM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Ted Kennedy - Codename -> "Bobber")
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To: Beagle8U

“In most cases before the advent of iron tools, fire was used to burn out most of the wood using hot coals.”

That must have been like examining brand-new horseshoes...


26 posted on 05/06/2008 11:08:51 AM PDT by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

I guess to people that think like you would have them invent the lumber mill and nails first, then build the canoe and be classified as “advanced”. Actually they used what nature had supplied them in their environment. My tribe carved solid canoes out of redwood trees. Although they did not make them 40 feet long, more like 16 to 24 feet.


27 posted on 05/06/2008 11:09:20 AM PDT by fish hawk (The religion of Darwinism is dying. Thank God!)
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To: fish hawk
Clearly I have staged a vicious attack against your people and yourself. You have properly chastised me for my lashing insults to your ancestors -- my derision of their boat-making skills has been noted and I am now truly chagrined.

I will never again refer to Stone Age people as "simple".

28 posted on 05/06/2008 11:13:03 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Et si omnes ego non)
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To: Old Professer

“That must have been like examining brand-new horseshoes...”

It doesn’t take long to inspect one of those...lol.


29 posted on 05/06/2008 11:13:30 AM PDT by Beagle8U (FreeRepublic -- One stop shopping ....... Its the Conservative Super WalMart for news .)
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To: Red Badger

http://www.cavemanscrib.com

And they can dance too.


30 posted on 05/06/2008 11:14:54 AM PDT by najida (On FR- Most guys see themselves is Brad Pitt, and think every woman here is Aunt Bea)
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To: Beagle8U

It was a pine tree soft enough to pound out. there are some big oaks and cypress there. They were smart enough not to use them.


31 posted on 05/06/2008 11:21:32 AM PDT by Soliton
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To: ClearCase_guy
Look at it this way. In 200 years from now, if humans survive, they will look at our trains and airplanes and laugh at how simple and backward we were compared to their way of doing things and their materials to do it with. In our defense we can say that , hey, we did the best we could with the knowledge and materials we had to work with.
32 posted on 05/06/2008 11:27:00 AM PDT by fish hawk (The religion of Darwinism is dying. Thank God!)
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To: blam

Interesting find, but BFD. How do you suppose the Caribbean Islands were populated?


33 posted on 05/06/2008 11:27:10 AM PDT by Natural Law
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To: ClearCase_guy

"We thank you."

34 posted on 05/06/2008 11:33:00 AM PDT by weegee ("I didn't kill innocent people." - Bill Ayers, Weatherman. Terrorist. Obama's comrade.)
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To: blam

Who are they voting for in 2008?


35 posted on 05/06/2008 11:34:10 AM PDT by weegee ("I didn't kill innocent people." - Bill Ayers, Weatherman. Terrorist. Obama's comrade.)
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To: Natural Law
How do you suppose the Caribbean Islands were populated?

By hetrosexuals?

/johnny

36 posted on 05/06/2008 11:39:35 AM PDT by JRandomFreeper (Bless us all, each, and every one.)
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To: fish hawk
I guess to people that think like you would have them invent the lumber mill and nails first, then build the canoe and be classified as “advanced”. Actually they used what nature had supplied them in their environment.

That makes sense. Simple cultures use what nature makes available to them, sometimes very effectively, but still remain largely constrained by nature. Advanced cultures developed technologies that allow them to do far more given similar natural endowments.

37 posted on 05/06/2008 11:44:28 AM PDT by Arguendo
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To: Soliton
“It was a pine tree soft enough to pound out. there are some big oaks and cypress there. They were smart enough not to use them.”

What kind of pine was it? Not all pine is soft. Ever hear of yellow, or lob-lolly pine? It's quite hard and very common in the south.

38 posted on 05/06/2008 12:00:29 PM PDT by Beagle8U (FreeRepublic -- One stop shopping ....... Its the Conservative Super WalMart for news .)
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To: blam

Some letters were scratched on the side of the craft that, when fully deciphered, read. “AARP member since 900 a.d.”


39 posted on 05/06/2008 12:06:32 PM PDT by count-your-change (you don't have to be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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To: HD1200

Digging Up Coprolites, or How to Make a Living Rooting Around in Old Sewers comes to mind (and leaves just as quickly).


40 posted on 05/06/2008 12:15:27 PM PDT by count-your-change (you don't have to be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
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