An ancient mariner's compass: selected discussion

Indian civilization has been without a break for the last few millennia. This means there has been external connections and indigenous maritime assets. Among the remains, the maritime assets archaeology are much prized and cited, a dock being the most prized. It also precludes the requirement of knowledge of the seas i.e. a compass. In this exploratory, multi-disciplinary, original study, we report an ancient nature inspired compass, an archaeological model and a brief review. We also report a man made, large, fresh water, inland dock termed as Vela in tune with constellation Vela as in the Oriental and Occidental star charts.