Sun stone

[Janne]

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[uncleboob]

It is thought that the Norse used sunstones, (a mineral that shows where the sun is when the sky is overcast) to navigate.
Has anybody tried one?

Saw one of these at a roman reenactment event near me many years ago...looked interesting at the time and seemed to work

 

[Ziethen]

I've been told, that once you learn to use it "juuuuust right", it's pretty accurate. Thing is, you have to twist and turn it, to catch the light in the exact right way to make it work as intended, and I think that's a pretty steep learning curve. I think one of the guys in the local viking ship guild (http://www.ladbyskibslaug.dk/ danish site), knows how to use it.

 

[SCOMAN]

I was interested in these a few years ago but I don't think the technique was fully understood.

 

[Janne]

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[Robson Valley]

They made it to Canada for long enough to set up at least one bog iron foundry, there may be others. Evidence of settlements, too.
Re-read Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki, particularly how the Polynesians navigated by the stars,
depending on which dagger boards and where they altered the geometry of the raft.

Been reading about the sunstones, they provide a precise angular location for the sun.
The deal is, you have to mess with it on sunny days for calibration.
Found a rock/gem site with 2" crystals for $12.00 - $15.00.
Might buy a couple. They look nice in any case.

 

[tombear]

One of my lads is into Dark Ages history so we picked up a match box sized piece of Icelandic spar on a hippy stall at Hebden Bridge market. I think it was £7 or £8. First overcast day we tried it out and you can tell were the sun is.

I think they have underwater excavated part of what could be a sort of plotting board, or some sort of board game...

ATB

Tom