RINGLE – Fourth-grade students at Riverside Elementary School had a one-of-a-kind learning experience to supplement their studies of archaeology and Wisconsin’s First People — a visit from two researchers involved in the discovery of Native American dugout canoes around the state, according to the D.C. Everest Area School District.
Tamera Thomsen, maritime archaeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society, and Sissel Schroeder, Bradshaw Knight professor of environmental humanities at UW-Madison, spoke with students about the history of Wisconsin’s First Nations and the discovery of 16 dugout canoes in Madison’s Lake Mendota since 2021. Radiocarbon dating indicates the oldest of the 16 canoes discovered in Lake Mendota dates back to 5,200 years ago…