When lakes dry up, amazing things are sometimes brought to light; such was the case at Newnan’s Lake, where ancient canoes were exposed.

2000 was a very dry year, and as Florida’s lakes and sinkholes shrank, sunken water craft were revealed. But Newnan’s Lake near Gainesville topped them all. In fact, over 100 prehistoric canoes were found there.

Most of the canoes were made out of pine, but two were cypress. When the radiocarbon dates were determined, archaeologists all over the country were stunned…36 canoes were between three and five thousand years old! The others dated right up to historic times.

Because we know that water-logged organics can literally last forever in the oxygen-free bottom of quiet water bodies, these ancient canoes they were not removed. Instead, they were mapped, photographed, drawn to scale, sampled and left in place. Today the site is recorded and it has been placed on the National Register. While these ancient canoes are gone from view again, they are not forgotten.

Written, narrated, and produced by the University of West Florida, the Florida Public Archaeology Network and WUWF Public Media.