Green glass beads made in Venice, Italy, were shipped to the Americas between 1440 – 1480, earlier than Columbus.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks on February 4 announced the discovery of blue glass beads the size of blueberries in northern Alaska, including three at Punyik Point – a famous site on the trade route. from the Arctic Ocean to the Bering Sea. The new study was published in the journal American Antiquity.
600 year old blue glass beads in Alaska. (Photo: American Antiquity).
The team found three glass beads and several plant fibers at Punyik Point during excavations in 2004 and 2005. With organic matter, they were able to use carbon isotope dating using accelerated mass spectrometry. to find out the age of these trees.
Mike Kunz, study co-author and archaeologist at the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North, was astounded by the results. “The results show that these trees date back to the 1400s,” he said.
The process of analyzing objects located near glass beads reveals some more useful information. The team of experts believe that these glass beads were brought to Punyik Point between 1440 – 1480. These may be the earliest European objects to appear in the Americas, Kunz said. Columbus reached the Americas in 1492, a little later.
The team of archaeologists think it is possible that the glass beads once belonged to a necklace. They determined their origins by studying the history of glassmaking in Venice. Previously, this type of nut had never appeared west of the Rocky Mountains.
Venice maintained trade with Asian civilizations in the 1400s. Green glass beads were probably brought to China via the Silk Road, and then to the Russian Far East. From here, a merchant may have taken them by boat through the Bering Strait, then to the ancient trading center of Shashalik, and finally to Punyik Point.