Christopher Columbus’s status as a pioneering explorer is in question – again.
A handful of bright blue beads has prompted historians and archaeologists to argue about a new study that could challenge the story that Columbus was the first European to colonize the New World in the late 15th century.
The azure glass baubles unearthed in Alaska may have Venetian origins, according to a report in the journal American Antiquity, and believed to have traveled 10,500 miles from Italy through Eurasia to Arctic Alaska territory, on the other side of the land bridge over the Bering Strait that once connected with North America and Siberia.
Radiocarbon dating of the rope attached to the beads, probably made from willow bark from shrubs, indicates that the bracelet dates back to the 14th or 15th century, possibly predating Columbus’ voyage in 1492. However, the margin of possibility also suggests that its origins date back to the 16th or 17th century.
“We were completely amazed because that was before Columbus even discovered the New World for decades,” researcher Michael Kunz of the University of Alaska told Live Science.
If the researchers’ hypotheses are true, the beads would be the oldest known European artifacts to have made their way to North America.
However, critics argue that the style of glass bead, called “drawn” beads, is inconsistent with the 14th to 15th century range, as previous research has indicated that this type was not manufactured before the 16th century.
“These beads cannot be pre-Columbian because Europeans were not making beads of this type so early,” said University of Alabama anthropologist Elliot Blair, who was not involved in the study. He told Live Science that the results, even without the pre-Columbian aspect, suggest a “ very cool story. ”
“Even with this later dating, an early 17th century dating for these beads is still much earlier than the first documented contact between Alaska Natives and Europeans.”
Kunz acknowledged that his study “goes against the grain” by claiming that drawn beads may have originated centuries earlier than we previously thought. “But we have good solid scientific evidence – radiocarbon dating, instrumental neutron activation analysis – that backs up what we’re saying,” he said.
Regardless of the exact age of the beads, bead expert and historian Karlis Karklins, who also spoke to the scientific outlet, said the study authors can be confident that these beads are indeed the oldest European products ever found in Alaska.
“How they got to distant Alaska from Western Europe in the latter part of the 16th or early 17th century is a mystery in itself,” said Karklins. “That really invites serious research.”
Leif Erikson is known to lead a crew of Norwegian Vikings to Canada and Greenland, arriving in the Great White North more than 500 years before Columbus. Nonetheless, historians continue to believe that Columbus’s landing in the West Indies triggered systemic colonization by a number of European countries, including Italy, Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands.