18 months ago
Weedon Island Preserve, Florida - Archaeologists are studying a 39-foot pine canoe found lodged in the sand in the Weedon Island Preserve that's believed to be about 1,100 years old.
The canoe features a raised bow that indicates the canoe was used on open water. Researchers believe it has gotten smaller over time, and was originally 45-feet long. That makes it the longest prehistoric canoe ever found in Florida.
Researchers believe the canoe belonged to a Native American culture that has already died out, known as the Weedon Island Culture of the Florida Gulf Coast.
In a news release posted on the Pinellas County website, Dr. Bruce Rinker, Environmental Lands director for Pinellas County said, "This discovery expands our understanding and the significance of the not-well-known people of the Weedon Island Culture. A tremendous thank you is owed to the team involved in researching and documenting this discovery, including Dr. Robert Austin, Dr. Donna Ruhl and the Friends of Weedon Island, who helped provide supplies and radiocarbon dating."
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