Visual Source: Mariner’s Astrolabe (1500)

European Exploration, Perception of the Other, and the Columbian Exchange

What factors contributed to the European interest in exploration?

The photograph is of a mariner’s astrolabe which was one of the most common methods for determining latitude at sea in the 1500s. The one pictured dates to 1500 and was recovered in the Indian Ocean by marine archeologists from the wreckage of the Esmeralda, part of Vasco da Gama’s fleet.

Mariner’s Astrolabe

Quiz Content

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. How did changing technology like the astrolabe affect interest in exploration?

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. How did finding a line of latitude help explorers?

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