Took me 3 years to realize I was reading compass roses wrong

Was looking at a 1700s map of the Carolina coast. Kept getting confused why north was where I thought south should be. Then my buddy pointed out the compass rose had the fleur-de-lis pointing east, not north. Felt like an idiot. How do you even check which direction the compass is oriented on old maps?

2 comments

2 Comments

carter.hugo13d ago

Nah that's fair but I'd argue most old maps just put north at the top anyway.

parker54313d ago

Actually that's a common misconception but early medieval maps often had east at the top, which is where we get the word "orient" from. Even Ptolemy's maps from around 150 AD put south at the top in some copies. You're right that north became the standard later on, but it wasn't always the default.