
Old World metals traded on Alaska coast hundreds of years before Europeans - mooreds
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-06/pu-owm060716.php
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JoeAltmaier
And they wore silk in Rome before Rome had ever heard of China. Trade doesn't
have to go halfway around the world on one camel. It can go from neighbor to
neighbor 'diffusely' with the same result. I'd not be surprised if native
Americans had traded old world items 10,000 years ago.

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rubidium
While what you said is true, the Beringia straight closed 10,000 years ago.
Any contact/trading/migration after that event is always interesting to find
out.

What is interesting about this is that some sort of trading/contact was
occurring across the Pacific Ocean around 1100-1300 AD. While anticipated,
this is a significant find.

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BurningFrog
Trading across the Bering Strait with inuit ships 900 years ago is quite
impressive. I've watched Deadliest Catch!

I suppose it's also possible things can have drifted over on ship wrecks or in
stray boxes.

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protomyth
Its not really that bad all year long, there are seasons. A lot of cruise
ships go up there during the summer and they wouldn't risk those (although
there is a video of a bad docking recently but that wasn't weather related).

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koverstreet
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPNfLmcUO0&sns=fb](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPNfLmcUO0&sns=fb)

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mmanfrin
The coast of Brazil and the Cape Verde Islands are not terribly far
(relatively speaking). I think a lot of Americans underestimate how close the
Americas are to the Euroafrican landmasses.

Also, this is neat reading:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_trans-
oceanic_co...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_trans-
oceanic_contact_theories)

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BurningFrog
The Cape Verde islands were uninhabited until the Portuguese discovered them
in 1456.

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mmanfrin
Cape Verde Islands are closest, but the coast of Africa itself is not much
further from Brazil. It's really easy to conceive of trade getting to the
Ivory Coast and then traders making the trip to the Americas.

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contingencies
Time to update the good, old and increasingly holey
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_trans-
oceanic_co...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian_trans-
oceanic_contact)

~~~
blatant
That is terribly interesting. Thanks.

