HOLDERNESS, NEW HAMPSHIRE—The New Hampshire Union Leader reports that a dugout canoe discovered in central New Hampshire’s Squam Lake has been radiocarbon dated to the mid-seventeenth century. Malcolm Taylor of the Holderness Historical Society said the Native American vessel was recovered from 14 feet of water by three fisherman 80 years ago and had been stored in Vermont’s Shelburne Museum until last year, when it was transferred to the Holderness Historical Society. Such canoes were made by burning the surface of a felled tree trunk and scraping away the charred wood with stone tools, then repeating the process. Dugout canoes were eventually replaced by more maneuverable birch bark canoes by the mid-seventeenth century. Further research will identify the species of tree used to make the vessel, Taylor added. To read about a prehistoric Caddo Indian canoe, go to "World Roundup: Louisiana."
