Lake Pithlachocco Canoe Site on the northeast shore of Newnans Lake east of Gainesville, Florida, yielded one of the most remarkable watercraft discoveries in the state when drought exposed more than 100 dugout canoes and some plank-built skiffs in 2000 and 2001. Excavations by the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research studied 55 canoes, most fashioned by fire-hollowing logs, often from conifers such as yellow pine. Radiocarbon dating showed that many belonged to the Archaic period, with samples ranging from 5000 to 2300 BP and others from 1300 to 500 BP. These rare finds reveal a long canoe-building tradition and important evidence of human adaptation to Florida’s changing wetland environments.

Waldo, Florida · USA