Eli5: how did early civilizations know what was north and what was south

Question

Eli5: how did early civilizations know what was north and what was south

In: Biology

Answer 1

In addition to the other answers, you should keep in mind that NSEW aren’t universal direction finding systems.

I don’t remember which island it was anymore, but when explorers got there and asked what their word was for “north,” they later found it was also the word for “south” and “east” and “west” depending on where they were standing, and eventually realized the people who lived there didn’t have a word for north. They had a word for “toward the sea” and a word for “toward the mountain.”