Wednesday, March 06, 2013

Archaeology Update

Shipwreck may contain near-mythical Viking navigation aid: An oblong crystal found in the wreck of a 16th-century English warship is a sunstone, a near-mythical navigational aid said to have been used by Viking mariners, researchers said on Wednesday. 

The stone is made of Iceland spar, a transparent, naturally-occurring calcite crystal that polarises light and can get a bearing on the Sun, they said.

2 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I love when they find this stuff.

mybillcrider said...

So do I, and I hope it's really a sunstone.