My friend Jerry Grover made me aware of the following article:
Jaroslav Klokočník, "Pyramids and Ceremonial Centers in Mesoamerica and China: Were They Oriented Using a Magnetic Compass?," Procedia Environmental Sciences 10 part a (2011): 255-61
The
abstract reads:
The arguments based on our own
measurements in situ or based on analysis of satellite images and on worldwide
paleomagnetic data available to date for relevant time intervals are gathered
and presented to claim that many pyramids and other important buildings in
Mesoamerica (Olmécs, Maya...) and in China (Xi’an...) were oriented by means of
a magnetic compass.