# The Wawa Runestone: Northern Ontario’s Newest Archaeological Mystery

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backroads-bill-podcast-6610086/the-wawa-runestone-northern-ontario-s-newest-archaeological-mystery
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backroads-bill-podcast-6610086/the-wawa-runestone-northern-ontario-s-newest-archaeological-mystery.md
Podcast: [The Backroads Bill Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backroads-bill-podcast-6610086)
Published: 2026-03-18T16:13:55+00:00
Episode link: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/the-wawa-runestone-northern-ontario-s-newest-archaeological-mystery--70627046
Audio file: https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/70627046/brb_johanna_rowe_2_audio.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-backroads-bill-podcast-6610086/episodes/the-wawa-runestone-northern-ontario-s-newest-archaeological-mystery
Duration seconds: 2333

## Resource

On this episode of Backroads Bill, we head to Northwestern Ontario to explore one of the most intriguing archaeological discoveries in the region in recent years. Local historian Johanna Rowe joins the show to talk about the discovery of the Wawa Runestone, a rock carving hidden in the bush that contains more than 250 characters written in runic script. Johanna walks us through how the discovery first came to light, the process of bringing archaeologists and language experts into the investigation, and the years of careful research that followed. Find out more here: https://www.ocare.ca/ 0:00 – The Wawa Runestone Discovery 4:37 – First Seeing the Carvings 9:51 – Translating the Runic Message 17:02 – Who Might Have Carved It? 31:36 – Why the Discovery Matters

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## Transcript

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