Trade was taking place between East Asia and the New World hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus arrived in the area in 1492 . This is according to a series of bronze artefacts found at the 'Rising Whale ' site in Cape Espenberg , Alaska . Archaeologists discovered what they believe to be a bronze and leather buckle and a bronze whistle , dating to around A.D. 600 . Trade was taking place between East Asia and the New World hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus ( left ) arrived in 1492 . The discovery was made after archaeologists found what they believe to be a bronze and leather buckle ( right ) , dating to around A.D. 600 . Bronze-working had not been developed at this time in Alaska , and researchers instead believe the artefacts were created in China , Korea or Yakutia . 'We 're seeing the interactions , indirect as they are , with these so-called 'high civilisations ' of China , Korea or Yakutia , ' Owen Mason , a research associate at the University of Colorado , told LiveScience . 'Native copper and meteoritic iron were hammered into a variety objects by late prehistoric inhabitants of arctic and subarctic North America , ' reports the research team on the website Arctic Research Consortium . ' [ But ] there is no evidence for the smelting , casting , or alloying of metals in the Western Hemisphere north of Mexico prior to the arrival of Europeans . Bronze-working had not been developed at this time in Alaska , and researchers believe the artefacts were created in China , Korea or Yakutia . Pictured are archaeologists working at the Rising Whale site at Cape Espenberg , Alaska . Researchers believe those who lived at the Rising Whale site may be part of what scientists call the 'Birnirk ' culture . 'As a result , these two artefacts give the best and least ambiguous evidence to date that non-ferrous industrial smelted metals were arriving in Alaska via prehistoric trade across the Bering Strait . ' Researchers believe those who lived at the Rising Whale site may be part of what scientists call the 'Birnirk ' culture . This is a group of people who lived on both sides of the Bering Strait and used advanced skin boats . They are believed to have lived in small family dwellings containing either an entrance that led to a single room with sleeping platforms . Birnirk settlements were small , with only a few families living in a settlement at a time . They were talented seal hunters , known for their use of innovative equipment , such as ice scratchers to lure seals over frozen waters . They were also known for their use of ground slate weapons , including knives , blades , arrows , and spears . Researchers believe those who lived at the Rising Whale site may be part of what scientists call the 'Birnirk ' culture . This is a group of people who lived on both sides of the Bering Strait and used skin boats and harpoons to hunt whales , LiveScience reports . The latest discovery of bronze artefacts backs up earlier evidence for trade between Alaska and other civilisations prior to 1492 . Inside the house , tests on obsidian items – created by volcanic glass – had previously suggested they came from the Anadyr River valley in Russia . LiveScience notes that anthropologist Berthold Laufer published an analysis of texts and artefacts in the journal T'oung Pao in 1913 , in which he found that the Chinese had an interest in obtaining ivory . He said that some of the walrus ivory may have come from the Bering Strait . There is also evidence that plate armour made using ivory and bones began appearing in Alaska around 1,000 years ago . A controversial hypothesis , put forward by amateur historian Gavin Menzies , suggests that China discovered the Americas 70 years before Columbus . He bases his theory on an alleged 18th century copy of a 1418 map charted by Chinese Admiral Zheng He , which appears to show the New World in some detail . Its overlapping style is similar to plate armour developed in East Asia , thousands of years ago . A controversial hypothesis , put forward by amateur historian Gavin Menzies , suggests that China discovered the Americas 70 years before Columbus . He bases his theory on an alleged 18th century copy of a 1418 map charted by Chinese Admiral Zheng He , which appears to show the New World in some detail . 'The traditional story of Columbus discovering the New World is absolute fantasy , it 's fairy tales , ' Mr Menzies told MailOnline . Among Menzies other claims are that the first inhabitants of the Western hemisphere did n't come over land from the Bering Strait , but instead were Chinese sailors who first crossed the Pacific Ocean 40,000 years ago . He also writes that DNA markers prove American Indians and other natives are the descendants of several waves of Asian settlers . Most scientists believe that humans arrived in the New World 15,000 years ago by crossing the now-flooded land bridge that had formed across the Bering Strait . But a recent genetic study suggests there were also journeys taken by people from East Asia to the New World at a later date . Cape Espenberg , where the discovery was made , is a cape located on the Seward Peninsula in Alaska , on the Chukchi Sea coast .
Bronze buckle and whistle from AD 600 found in Cape Espenberg . But bronze-working had not been developed at this time in Alaska . Scientists believe artefacts were created in China , Korea or Yakutia . The discovery of the bronze buckles is significant because they are among only a handful of artifacts that have survived to modern times - including some made by Native Americans thousands of years ago.