'Viking sunstone' found in shipwreck

[Still Waters]

A crystal found in a shipwreck could be similar to a sunstone - a mythical navigational aid said to have been used by Viking mariners, scientists believe.

The team from France say the transparent crystal may have been used to locate the Sun even on cloudy days.

This could help to explain how the Vikings were able to navigate across large tracts of the sea - well before the invention of the magnetic compass.

However, a number of academics treat the sunstone theory with scepticism.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...europe-21693140

[Keel M.]

This makes me think of the first episode of Vikings on the History Channel last weekend. The MC Ragnar was talking to his brother about how to find their way to lands to the West and first explained using the sun and shadows on a sundial like thing. Then his brother says, "Well what happens when it's cloudy?" Ragnar shows him a chunk of what he calls sunstone and looks toward the sun through the crystal and BAM! there's the sun.

[krypter3]

This makes me think of the first episode of Vikings on the History Channel last weekend. The MC Ragnar was talking to his brother about how to find their way to lands to the West and first explained using the sun and shadows on a sundial like thing. Then his brother says, "Well what happens when it's cloudy?" Ragnar shows him a chunk of what he calls sunstone and looks toward the sun through the crystal and BAM! there's the sun.

Because they are one in the same xD

[MissMelsWell]

Here's an actual picture of the stone.... I read this article earlier this morning. haha.

http://www.komonews.com/news/national/Researchers-We-may-have-found-a-fabled-sunstone-196305941.html

[pallidin]

I guess I can understand it, a little bit... not much, though.

[chopmo]

I laugh when the try shoot holes in the theory by saying it's the only one to be found.

Sooo... becuase Vikings and early Sea-travellers had a sence of worth not to discard of something so usefull as it was just another common item, it's fringe.

It does what it's supposed to according to lore. Why shoot holes lol.

I remember Viking lore, telling of their men being able to open the skys of Valhalla to assist them in their travels.

It doesn't reference a sunstone directly, it still fits the shoe. A device to be guided by the heavens at all times.

[marcos anthony toledo]

The Sun Stones would be too valuable to be place in a burial so that why they not been found more often.

[acute]

Call me thick, but I don't understand what the article is saying.

Is it saying that this form of calcite is rare, or to find some fashioned into a sunstone is rare, or discovering a Viking sunstone is rare?

Edited March 11, 2013 by acute

[+DieChecker]

I laugh when the try shoot holes in the theory by saying it's the only one to be found.

Sooo... becuase Vikings and early Sea-travellers had a sence of worth not to discard of something so usefull as it was just another common item, it's fringe.

It does what it's supposed to according to lore. Why shoot holes lol.

I remember Viking lore, telling of their men being able to open the skys of Valhalla to assist them in their travels.

It doesn't reference a sunstone directly, it still fits the shoe. A device to be guided by the heavens at all times.

Just like the Romans had bazookas, because they were so valuable that they never misplaced or buried any of them.

[Aus Der Box Skeptisch]

I recall a similar article being posted within the last year ....

Here posted by stillwaters

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=217031&view=&hl=&fromsearch=1

[Aus Der Box Skeptisch]

OK so it was longer than a year ago... oh well LOL

[keithisco]

This thread is becoming a bit boring... Icelandic Spar is well known and the Vikings would certainly be aware of its double diffraction qualities. When it became too dark to use the Spar then they had the Stars to be guided by, or if cloudy , then they could use the Lode Stone (Magnetite) to find Magnetic North.

So please...Icelandic Spar in cloudy / twilight situations, then Lodestone / stars during night travels...heck, Lodestone by itself would give sufficient bearings to reach the landmass they were aiming for.

Edited March 14, 2013 by keithisco