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To: Jedi Master Pikachu
Vikings used sundials aboard ships to navigate.

If they were used as time-keeping pieces in the navigational computations, then that might imply the Vikings assumed the earth was round.

7 posted on 02/07/2007 5:23:41 PM PST by Rudder
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To: Rudder
If they were used as time-keeping pieces in the navigational computations, then that might imply the Vikings assumed the earth was round.

I think the early Viking "World Model" was that of a flat, circular earth with landmasses all the way round the edge surrounding an inner sea (the Atlantic). That said, they could have come to understand that the world was 'round' from contacts with Greeks & Arabs.

19 posted on 02/08/2007 6:47:12 AM PST by Tallguy
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To: Rudder
...then that might imply the Vikings assumed the earth was round.

Why wouldn’t they? They were a sea faring people, and the round earth would be obvious to them.

32 posted on 02/08/2007 12:36:08 PM PST by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink)
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