It's not a great headline given many navigational tools vastly predate this. E.g. the (arguably) most obvious maritime navigational tool being the compass:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_compass#Early_n...

> The compass was used in Song Dynasty China by the military for navigational orienteering by 1040–44,[15][28][29] and was used for maritime navigation by 1111 to 1117