Re:Blue beads could be the oldest evidence of European goods...
by danans on Tuesday February 16, 2021 @02:14PM
(#26157599)
In addition to random diffusion, big empires between Venice and Alaska, including Persia, India, China, and the Mongols in Central Asia served as cultural "repeaters". Valuable artifacts might have actually been actively promoted in trade and taken on newer and greater significance as they changed hands.
Other even more ancient artifact transmissions across long distances include the Pompeii Lakshmi (first century CE) [1], and Greco-Roman glassware found in Southeast China (third century CE) [2].
The bigger surprise is that this trade took place across the Bering Strait, a very forbidding natural obstacle. But then again, the Yupik peoples have historically spanned the Bering Strait though to central Alaska [3], so they are a probably final link for the artifact between Eurasia and North American populations.
Other even more ancient artifact transmissions across long distances include the Pompeii Lakshmi (first century CE) [1], and Greco-Roman glassware found in Southeast China (third century CE) [2].
The bigger surprise is that this trade took place across the Bering Strait, a very forbidding natural obstacle. But then again, the Yupik peoples have historically spanned the Bering Strait though to central Alaska [3], so they are a probably final link for the artifact between Eurasia and North American populations.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii_Lakshmi
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serica#/media/File:Green_glass...
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yupik_peoples