The Lake Pithlachocco Canoe Site (also known as Newnan's Lake Canoe Site) is a historic site which is east of

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...

. It is located on the northeast shore of

Newnans Lake Newnans Lake (or Newnan's Lake) is a lake located off State Road 20, east of Gainesville, Florida. Approximately wide, Newnans Lake is home to many forms of wildlife, and had been designated as a protected site by Alachua County. The lake was ...

, off State Road 26. On March 27, 2001, it was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The site is within the territory of the Newnans Lake Conservation Area.Newnans Lake Conservation Area (St. Johns River Water Management District)
/ref> A drought in the first half of 2000 significantly lowered the water level of Newnans Lake, exposing a large number of

dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek – ''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' (t ...

s and

plank Plank may refer to: *Plank (wood), flat, elongated, and rectangular timber with parallel faces *Plank (exercise), an isometric exercise for the abdominal muscles * Martins Creek (Kentucky), the location of Plank post office * ''The Plank'' (1967 fi ...

-built

skiff A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have devel ...

s. Surveys eventually identified the remains of more than 100 dugout canoes on the exposed lake bottom. Most of the canoes were found along the northeast shore of the lake, but a few, fragmentary canoes, were identified along the southwestern shore. Additional canoes were discovered under canoes that were excavated for study. The Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research initially excavated 53 of the canoes for further study in June and July 2000. Low water in May 2001 revealed another two canoes that were added to the study. Each canoe was measured and photographed, and samples were taken to be submitted for

radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...

and for identification of the species of trees from which the canoes were formed. All of the canoes had been crafted using fire to hollow out logs. Most of the canoes dated from the Archaic period (more than 2,300 years ago). Thirteen canoes were more recent, with radiocarbon dates ranging from 500

Before Present Before Present (BP) years, or "years before present", is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Becaus ...

(BP) to 1300 BP. Samples from 41 canoes yielded radiocarbon dates from 5000 to 2300 BP, corresponding to the Middle Archaic and early Late Archaic periods. Most of the Archaic period canoes were fragmentary; only five canoes were judged to be at least 75% intact, and seven were less than 50% intact. The canoe ends tended to be better preserved, which was attributed to the wood being thicker there, with more of the heartwood present. The wood in all of the canoes was badly deteriorated, and had become soft and spongy. None of the canoes were deemed suitable for removal and preservation. Wheeler et al. judged the locations of the canoes to have been random, likely caused by natural forces such as prevailing winds. All of the canoes were made from logs hollowed by fire. Some of the canoes also showed evidence of fire being used to form the sides and ends of the canoes. While no tool marks were found on the canoes, the

indigenous peoples of Florida The indigenous peoples of Florida lived in what is now known as Florida for more than 12,000 years before the time of first contact with Europeans. However, the indigenous Floridians living east of the Apalachicola River had largely died out by ...

are known at the time of first European contact to have used fire and scraping tools to shape canoes. Wheeler et al. judged most of the Archaic period canoes to be of Type 2 in the classification developed by Newsome and Purdy. Nineteen of the canoes, all dated to between 2310 BP and 4160 BP, had one or more

thwart A thwart is a part of an undecked boat that provides seats for the crew and structural rigidity for the hull. A thwart goes from one side of the hull to the other. There might be just one thwart in a small boat, or many in a larger boat, especial ...

s, a ridge of wood transversing the interior. The purpose of the thwarts is unclear. All of the Archaic period canoes had been made from conifers. Most had been fashioned from yellow pines. One canoe had been made from a

Bald cypress ''Taxodium distichum'' (bald cypress, swamp cypress; french: cyprès chauve; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide r ...

log. The Archaic period canoes found in Newnans Lake could not be distinguished from canoes of the Post-Archaic period (after 1000 B.C.) that have been found in Florida. Similar canoes of the Archaic period have been found elsewhere in Florida, indicating that a peninsula-wide tradition of canoe manufacture had existed since 5000 BP. Archaic period canoes are rare in the eastern United States outside of Florida. Sea levels rose rapidly around 7,000 years ago, raising the water table in the Florida peninsula and creating new wetland habitats. The wide-spread use of canoes in Florida is likely related to the development of new

cultures Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

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