By John Bertleson Jr., Iola Historical Society

Tamara Thomsen and Dr. Sissel Schroeder visited the Iola Historical Society on July 17 and studied the dugout canoe donated by former Millstone owner and IHS Treasurer Tom Fucik and is now located in our Machine Shed.

Tamara is a Maritime Archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society and Sissel is a professor of Anthropology at UW-Madison. This work is part of a grant to study all known dugouts from the state, and Tamara was one of the divers who recognized the dugout found in Lake Mendota that is now in the process of being preserved.

Here is a summary of the project that Tamara sent us a couple weeks ago.

A little background on the Statewide Dugout Canoe Survey – since 2018, Dr. Sissel Schroeder (Anthropology Professor, UW- Madison) and I have been working on a collaborative project to document all known dugout canoes from Wisconsin. The project goals include comprehensive documentation of the dugouts; measuring and describing dugouts to compare size, form, and features; developing 3D models of dugouts using photogrammetry and the handheld LiDAR sensor in the iPhone 13 Pro; determining wood type and geographic origin of the wood through strontium isotope analysis; determining age/antiquity through radiocarbon dating or historic documentation; and describing object condition. So far, we have documented 63 of the more than 70 reported dugouts, including four from the Menominee Nation, one of which is within the collections of the Smithsonian, and three Ho-Chuck canoes.

In 2018 our intern, Ryan Smazal visited the canoe at Iola, and took photographs and measurements. But we have since expanded the project and besides the requested sampling which I will describe below, in July, we would also like to take the time to create photogrammetry and LiDAR models on you canoe. These will be completed and shared with you during the time of our visit and are yours for dissemination at your convenience.

Regarding the sampling – only one sample, about the size of half of a matchstick will be needed for all the various testing, and it can come from flakes that have already fallen off or from breaks/cracks on the main body of the canoe (not from the ends). Any removal of material should not be readily visible after we have taken it. 

The sample will go to the University of Arizona AMS Lab for C14 radiocarbon dating at the end of August, along with samples from all 70 other dugout canoes in collections that were similarly produced in Wisconsin. Wood type identification will be done at Forest Products Lab in Madison. And if we decide on strontium isotope analysis it will be done by Chris Widga at East Tennessee State University. We are still in the decision-making phase on this testing as some literature suggests that it’s not as effective as we would like on waterlogged wood. And again, all tests can be collected on the same small sample of wood material collected from the canoe. We have secured grant funding to cover all costs and the results of these tests will be shared with your institution.

There were some very interesting observations made yesterday to the dugout we have, and it will be interesting to see the final report.  Lee did ask if it was possible to have someone make a presentation at one of our monthly meetings, and there is interest in that.