Tiny glass beads from Venice made their way to Alaska decades before Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World. The beads, the color and size of blueberries, were uncovered in a house pit in Punyik Point, a seasonal Inuit camp near the Continental Divide in Alaska's Brooks Range. Punyik Point was a popular stopping point for traders, Kunz says, because of the many caribou in the area. University of Wisconsin archaeologist William Irving found several turquoise beads at Punyik Point in the 1950s and 1960s. The beads discovered at Punyik Point were found with metal bits that were likely part of a necklace or bracelet.

Source: Daily Mail February 10, 2021 20:59 UTC