Bering Land Ridge National Preserve researchers have confirmed that bronze artifacts in an old house in Alaska dating back to 1,000 years was a trading place between East Asia and New World centuries before the voyage of Columbus.

Archaeologists found the artifacts at the "Rising Whale" site at Cape Espenberg.

Like Us on Facebook

"When you're looking at the site from a little ways away, it looks like a bowhead coming to the surface. We're seeing the interactions, indirect as they are, with these so-called 'high civilizations' of China, Korea or Yakutia, a region in Russia," said Owen Mason, a research associate at University of Colorado and part of the excavation.

Since bronze-working wasn't fully developed in Alaska, archaeologists believe the artifacts were manufactured in East Asia and made its way to Alaska through trading routes.

Along with the bronze items were remains of obsidian artifacts. The obsidian items' chemical signatures shows signs it came from Russia, or from the Anadyr River valley to be exact.

Most researchers noted the similarities of the design of the plate armor worn by people in Alaska and that are worn mostly in China, Korea, Japan and eastern Mongolia.

Genetic research also showed there were indeed interactions between peoples from East Asia and the New World.

A lot of different hypotheses suggest people may have reached the New World before Columbus. There is one idea that keeps getting the attention of media: Chinese mariners sailed directly to the New World. This idea, however, lacks scholarly support.

Mason and his team will discuss their research about the Rising Whale site in St. John's Newfoundland, Canada as part of the Canadian Archaeological Association annual meeting on April 28 and May 2.

TagsPrehistoric Artifact Shows Asian Trade in Alaska, Rising Whale, Bronze, Alaska, Trade, market trade, Russia, artifacts, Columbus, ancient trade