The earliest known compasses humans used were called “zhi nan zhen,” meaning “south pointing needle.” It pointed south. European navigators using the technology inverted this so it would point north.
I guess, but those were really more of a divination tool, rather than a navigational one. They didn’t start using them as a traditional compass until the 1100’s.
![[Not the Onion] The looming Eurasian menace](https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/75a35862-f14e-448b-ad22-46b6388d4ec0.png){kind=link}
The earliest known compasses humans used were called “zhi nan zhen,” meaning “south pointing needle.” It pointed south. European navigators using the technology inverted this so it would point north.
I guess, but those were really more of a divination tool, rather than a navigational one. They didn’t start using them as a traditional compass until the 1100’s.