Archeologists have discovered a 500-year-old compass that they believe may have been owned by Nicolaus Copernicus, the legendary Polish astronomer. According to a report by La Brujula Verde, an amateur archeological team known as Warminska Grupa Eksploracyjna was working on a project in northern Poland when they discovered the artifact.
According to the team, they discovered the items as they explored the ground surrounding the Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Andrew. Using a ground-penetrating radar, the archeologists discovered a vault deep beneath the ground connected to three passages. The team dug and eventually accessed the vault, finding a compass inside. According to members of the team, the compass looked a lot like the one frequently seen being held by Copernicus in portraits.
Misja Skarb, one of the explorers who discovered the compass, said that while there is no evidence it was necessarily a compass owned by Copernicus, there is plenty of circumstantial evidence to suggest that it could be connected to him in some ay.
“This astounding find takes us back to the era when Copernicus made his revolutionary discoveries,” Skarb said.
Copernicus was a Renaissance-era Polish mathematician and astronomer best known for his inventing the theory that the earth and other planets in the solar system revolve around the sun, rather than the sun revolving around the earth.
Copernicus’ work in the 14-1500s laid the foundations for modern astronomy.
The Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Andrew is a cathedral first consecrated in 1288. It is situated in the town of Frombork in north Poland. The original building stood from 1288, though it was reconstructed in 1329 and completed in 1388.
According to Copernicus’ own notes, he studied at the University of Bologna and the University of Padua, but returned to Frombork – where the compass was discovered – in 1510. It was here that he developed his famous heliocentric theory.
