Ancient Artifact Suggests Trade Links to Asia

A cast bronze buckle-shaped object, found in a 1000-year old Inupiat dwelling points to possible trade links with Asia, since ancient Alaskans had no bronze culture. The artifact, discovered on a home site on Cape Espenberg on the Chukchi Sea Coast , "appears to be older than the house we were excavating by at least a few hundred years", says CU-Boulder Research Associate John Hoffecker who is leading the project.

According to experts, the object may have been used as a harness before arriving in Alaska while the Inupiat Eskimos could have used it as a clasp for clothing or as part of a shaman's regalia. The exact usage to which it was put though still remains a mystery.