1000 year old casted bronze artifact found in Alaska

[arrow719]

What do you guys make of this?

Bronze artifact found on Alaska's Seward Peninsula - Yahoo! News

[Cannonman17]

Interesting, Chinese been sending their crap over here for a thousand years already is my guess.

[joshuaream]

They can usually identify bronze by the trace metals, I'm surprised they haven't pinned it down exactly.

The Chinese, Japanese and Koreans all had strong sailing traditions and fishing cultures, a single boat could have made it easily. They recently identified an imperial chinese dagger handle as Narwhal ivory, the ancient Chinese either got up to Northern Europe or northern Canada OR ended up with the Ivory in trade. Either way, I could see a small pocketable piece being carried for years...

[DesertWalker]

Was there mining there at one time? The chinese also brought old things with them when they came to work the mines in the 1800s.

[MidlandMan]

So far everyone is looking at Asia as it is the closest to Alaska but what about a European origination? The Norse could have left such an item that over a few centuries might have found its way across the Arctic. Its a bit early for documented Norse in North America but Norse legend suggest earlier voyages may have taken place, perhaps lost stranded seaman or early adventurers.

[eddies]

very cool

[Cannonman17]

What if a Chinese immigrant brought it with him as something that thad been passed down in his family for generations and then came to the US to work on the railroad lines and lost it while working in Alaska?