History of cartography

Topics to be discussed
• Definition
• Importance
• History of cartography
• Modern cartography
• Essential cartographic processes.

Definition
The International Cartographic Association
defines cartography as the discipline dealing with
the conception, production, dissemination and
study of maps.

Formal Definitions
• Cartography is considered as the science of preparing all types
of maps and charts and includes every operation from original
survey to final printing of maps (United Nations 1949, cited in
Freitag 1993).
• Cartography is the art, science and technology of making maps,
together with their study as scientific documents and works of art
(I.C.A in Meynen 1973).
• Cartography is the discipline dealing with the conception,
production, dissemination and study of maps (I.C.A. in
Anonymous 1992)

A History of Cartography –First Maps
• 6200BC -Catal-HyukMap –Wall Painting
• Assyria –map of Mesopotamia (2500 B.C.) on a clay
tablet.(interpretation)
• 600BC -Babylonia –first map with world surrounded by the sea and
heavenly bodies(interpretation)
• 6th century B.C. -first Greek map ascribed to Anaximander–no
details survive
• Plato –first to put earth as sphere- 400 BC
• Erasthosthenes-250BC-measures the Earth’s circumference
accurately –concept of grids 450 BC -First Map in western
literature: Herodotus

Value of Maps
1.As a way of recording and storing information
Governments, businesses, and society as large must store
large quantities of information about the environment and the
location of natural resources, capital assets, and people.
Included are plat, parcel, and cadastral maps to record
property, maps of society's infrastructure or utilities for water,
power, and telephone, and transportation, and census maps
of population.

Value of Maps
2. As a means of analyzing locational distributions and
spatial patterns
Maps let us recognize spatial distributions and relationships and
make it possible for us to visualize and hence conceptualize
patterns and processes that operate through space.
3. As a method of presenting information and
communicating findings
Maps allow us to convey information and findings that are
difficult to express verbally. Maps can also be used to convince
and persuade, or even propagandize.

Importance of Cartography
Three Assumptions:
1.Cartography is relevant
2.Cartography is attractive
3.Cartography is modern

Cartography is relevant
Modern cartography is key to humankind. Without
maps, we would be spatially blind. Knowledge about
spatial relations and location of objects are most
important for enabling economic development, for
managing and administering land, for handling
disasters and crisis situations, or simply to be able to
make decisions on a personal scale on where and how
to go to a particular place.

Cartography is attractive
Maps and other cartographic products are
attractive. Many people like to use maps; to
play around with maps, for instance, on the
Internet; or simply to look at them. We can
witness a dramatic increase in the number of
users and use of maps currently.

Interactive
Map

Collaborative
Map

User
Defined
Base
Map

Real-Time
Cartography
(Live Trains)

LBS and
Ubiquitous
Cartography

3D and 4D Cartography

Geo Media Techniques (AR, VR, CrossMedia, Social Media)

Cartography is modern!
Maps can be seen as the perfect interface between a human user and
big data.

Cartography is modern!
New and innovative technologies have an
important impact on what cartographers are
doing. Maps can be derived automatically from
geodata acquisition methods, smart models of
geodata can be built, and a whole range of
presentation forms is now available.

Four Main Cartographic Processes
• Collecting and selecting data for mapping
• Manipulating and generalizing the data, designing and
constructing the map
• Reading or viewing the map
• Interpreting the information presented on the map

Let’s Explore
&
Have Some Fun! 

HOW MANY LIKES EACH COUNTRY HAS ON FACEBOOK!

CIGARETTE CONSUMPTION BY COUNTRY

WHAT ARE THE BASIC
KINDS OF MAPS?

Political Maps
 Political maps show how
humans have impacted
the landscape. For
example, city names,
roads, country borders,
etc. are all part of
political maps.
 A political map often
uses colors to show the
boundaries between
states or countries.

Political Maps
 Political maps change frequently (physical maps change
very, very slowly through geologic processes) and must
be redrawn often. A political map of the world that is 50
years old is no longer accurate.
 Wars and ethnic conflict are two major causes political
maps change.

Physical Maps
 Physical maps show what the surface of the Earth looks like.
 A physical map highlights Earth’s natural features, such as
mountains and forests.

 Physical maps do not contain man made features.
 For example, a physical map would be a map of what you
would see if you were looking down on Earth from space.
Physical Maps
Notice you do not see country borders or city markings. These divisions are created by people.
For example, there is no actual line dividing Texas from its bordering states.

Physical Maps
 There are different types of physical
maps.
Relief Maps – Show the difference in height
between land
Elevation Maps – Show the elevation, or
height above sea level.

Physical Maps
Elevation Map
Relief Map

Map Review
What is the purpose of a Political
map?

Map Review
 What is the purpose of a Political map?
To show borders of countries,
states, cities

Map Review
 What is the purpose of a Physical map?
Physical maps show what the surface of the world looks
like.

Map Review
 Think about a hiker. What kind of map would they
need?
A physical map.
 Why?
They would need to know things like where mountains, forest,
and rivers are.

Map Review
 I am planning a trip to New York. What kind of
map would I most likely need?
A political map
 Why?
A political map would show me states and cities. This is
information that I would likely need to know if going to New York.

THE OLDEST MAP
 Oldest existing map (6200 BCE)*
 Wall painting at Catal Huyuk (Turkey)
 Depict the town plan, with erupting volcano
*Your textbook references a
far younger map…
Leopard pattern?

DISCLAIMER
 Ancient cartographic history is spotty
 Few ancient maps remain
 Many have been lost to time
 Many have been destroyed
 Clay is easily broken
 Paper and wood decompose and catch fire
 Bronze maps were often melted down

DISCLAIMER
 Many ancient maps have been “reconstructed”
 Reconstructions are suspect
 Many were reconstructed based upon manuscripts,
which often included vague, or poetic language
 Many were copied graphically by medieval monks, who
knew little of what they were copying

DISCLAIMER
 This presentation is far from complete
 How can thousands of years of cartography be summed
up in a single lecture?
 Emphasis is given to groups of people and periods of
time that the instructor is most familiar with
 I urge you to explore what I don’t cover here

BABYLONIAN MAPS
 Ancient Babylonians had a relatively advanced culture
 Developed written language in the 4th millennium BCE
 Had a well-defined measurement system
 Used the Pythagorean Theorem almost 1,000 years before
Pythagoras
 Used a sexigesimal number system and divided the circle into
360 degrees

BABYLONIAN MAPS
 The Gasur Map (2300 BCE)
 Mountains, water course, place names
 First known example of a topographic map labeled with
cardinal directions

BABYLONIAN MAPS
 Statue of Prince Gudea (2100 BCE)
 Perhaps the first map with a bar scale

BABYLONIAN MAPS
 Town Plan of
Nippur (1500
BCE)
 City wall,
canal, park
 Appears to be
to scale
(archaeological
evidence
unclear)

BABYLONIAN MAPS
 Babylonian “World Map” (600
BCE)
 Small-scale map of the known
world
 Babylon & Euphrates
 Encircling ocean is a recurring
theme
 Lands beyond were visited by
legendary heroes

BABYLONIAN MAPS
 Babylonian “World Map” (600 BCE)
 Reference to the 4 winds or 4 directions
 Map is an attempt to explain ideas in the accompanying text

EGYPTIAN MAPS
 Egyptians were advanced for their time
 Developed written language in the 4th millennium BCE
 Advanced the fields of mathematics, agriculture, quarrying,
medicine, art, and architecture
 They left us even less cartographic evidence than the
Babylonians
 Used papyrus and wood instead of clay

EGYPTIAN MAPS
 Maps on coffin lids
 Lids from 2000 BCE illustrate both water and
land routes to the “Underworld”
 Idealized plots of land and gardens
 Example from 1400 BCE

EGYPTIAN MAPS
Land was to be
tended
to in the afterlife
Curious
combination of
perspectives:
plan and profile

EGYPTIAN MAPS
 Survey maps were perhaps the most common
Egyptian maps
 Annual flooding of the Nile necessitated accurate maps to
re-establish boundaries
 Maps were used for taxation purposes
 There are no surviving examples; we know about them
from Egyptian manuscripts

EGYPTIAN MAPS
 Turin Papyrus (Map of the Gold
Mines)
 Topographic map (1300 BCE)
 Located between the Nile & Red Sea
 Had two legends

GREEK MAPS
 Greek culture and scholarship spans thousands of
years
 Greek literature has an unbroken history of nearly 3,000
years
 Reflect a gradual transition from theoretical to
practical cartography
 From idealized concepts of the shape of the known world
and “climata,” to map projections and coordinate
geometry
 Reconstructions aplenty

GREEK MAPS
 Achilles Shield (800 BCE)
• The Earth, sky and sea, the sun, the moon and the
constellations
• "Two beautiful cities full of people": in one a
wedding and a law case are taking place; the other
city is besieged by one feuding army and the shield
shows an ambush and a battle.
• A field being ploughed for the third time.
• A king's estate where the harvest is being reaped.
• A vineyard with grape pickers .
• A "herd of straight-horned cattle"; the lead bull has
been attacked by a pair of savage lions which the
herdsmen and their dogs are trying to beat off.
• A picture of a sheep farm.
• A dancing-floor where young men and women are
dancing .
• The great stream of Ocean

GREEK MAPS
 From Homer’s Illiad
 Not a geographical
representation, but
a general view of
the world and
man’s place in it

GREEK MAPS
 Encircling ocean (again)
 Was ridiculed by later writers, but acted as a framework for subsequent
world maps

GREEK MAPS
 Anaximander’s World
Map (6th BCE)
 Considered to be the
first world map drawn
to scale

GREEK MAPS
 Hecataeus’ World
Map (500 BCE)
 Part of Circuit of the
Earth, the first
systematic description
of the known world

GREEK MAPS
 Dicaearchus’ World Map (3rd BCE)
 First meridian and parallel (diaphragma)
 Encircling ocean gone (for now)
An explosion of
geographic
information
occurred during
Hellenistic times
• Alexander’s exploits
produced volumes
of information
• The Great Library at
Alexandria was a
premier storehouse

GREEK MAPS
 Eratosthenes’ World Map (220 BCE)
 The father of scientific cartography, and first to calculate
Earth’s circumference

GREEK MAPS
 Orb of Crates (150 BCE)

 Based on Homer’s Ulysses
 Originally a 10 foot wide
globe
Greek cartography was incorporated into
the Roman world, and distributed beyond
Influence shifted from Alexandria to Rome
during the Greco-Roman period

GREEK MAPS
 Strabo’s World Map (beginning of CE)
 We have his 17 volume Geography intact
 Recommended construction on a globe

GREEK MAPS
 Strabo’s World Map

GREEK MAPS
 Strabo’s
Map of
Europe

GREEK MAPS
 Ptolemy’s World Map
(150 CE)

 The World Map for
over 1,000 years
• Based on a projection
• Derived from lon/lat tables
• No more encircling ocean
• Caspian Sea enclosed
• Most complete geography
• Enclosed Indian Ocean

GREEK MAPS
 Ptolemy’s Projections (150 CE)
 A major cartographic breakthrough
Conic Projection
Resulted in far less areal and angular
distortion than orthogonal grids used
previously. With slight modifications, this
projection is still in use today.
Pseudoconic Projection
Reduced distortion even further, but was more
difficult to construct. Ptolemy recommended this
second projection to all but the lazy.

GREEK MAPS
 Ptolemy’s
Regional Maps
(150 CE)
 Larger scale
maps of smaller
regions
This version produced during the
renaissance using woodcut
techniques

GREEK MAPS
 Ptolemy’s World Map remained as “truth” until the renaissance
 It was scientifically-based
 Ptolemy’s reputation as an astronomer was beyond reproach
 The Roman empire peaked around the time of Ptolemy; an intellectual
vacuum ensued

ROMAN MAPS
 Peutinger Road Map (335 CE)
 22 ft long, 1 ft wide
 For use with a written itinerary

ROMAN MAPS
 Peutinger Road Map (335 CE)
 Entire Roman road network is laid out as parallel routes
 Extends into Asia and North Africa
Pictographic Symbols!

CHINESE MAPS
 Stone map of China
(1140 CE)
 Engraved stone maps
were transferred to
paper by ink rubbing
 Used to educate
school children
and emperors
 Highly accurate
representations
of rivers and
locations

CHINESE MAPS
 Stone map of China (1140 CE)
 Graticule squares represent 100 li (33 mi)
 Represents a cartographic sophistication unknown in the West at the time

CHINESE MAPS
 Silk map of China (1470 CE)
 Used to demonstrate the new Confucian dynasty’s “cosmic legitimacy”
 Spans Korea to Europe (!?)

CHINESE MAPS
 Paper map of China (1800s)
 Used for
bureaucratic
control of the
empire,
beginning in
the 7th CE
 Yellow River
(Hwang Ho)
 Great Wall

JAPANESE MAPS
 Clouds used to compress distance or time

MAPS of the MIDDLE AGES
 al-Idrisi’s World
Map (1154)
 Based on
Ptolemaic
principles, but
incorporating
Islamic
characteristics
 South at top

 al-Gharaib’s World Map (1481)
 Reflects
religious views
of 10th century
Islam
 Centered on
Mecca
 South at top

 “T-O” Mappaemundi
 Religious maps devised and
promoted by the early Christian
Church
 “O” is the known world with
encircling ocean, and “T” divides
the continents
 East is at top
 “T” represents the cross
 The first map printed in
Europe (1472)

 The Psalter Map (1260)
 A less obvious T-O
map
 Jerusalem at center;
biblical stories
abound
 Christ at top, holding
a T-O globe
 Red sea in red

 Portolan Chart (1500)
 Sea chart that began
the tradition of
“orienting” maps with
north at top
 Radiating lines
correspond to
compass directions, but
were identified
 by wind directions

 Portolan Chart
(1547)
 Prized, but
prone to error
(didn’t take into
consideration
the spherical
earth)
• “Luxury Edition” charts were sold to the
wealthy
• Scenes on land were partly based in truth,
and partly in myth

MAPS of the RENAISSANCE
 After 1,000
years, Ptolemy is
rediscovered in
Europe
 Revisions
accompanied
translations

 Roselli’s World
Map (1508)
 The first “whole
world” map
 Mythical
southern
continent (disc.
1820)

 Apian’s World Map (1530)
 “Heart-shaped world” resulted by expanding
Ptolemy’s projection to the entire world
 Quite popular during the renaissance

 Waldseemüller’s World Map (1507)
 First to name “America” (Vespucci? Ameryk?)
 Name was later removed…
Purchased by U.S.
Library of Congress
in 2003 for $10
million—the highest
price the library
had ever paid for a
map

 Ortelius’ World Map (1570)
 From the first modern atlas: Theatrum OrbisTerrarum (Theater of the
World)

MAPS of the
17th-19th CENTURIES

MAPS of the 17th-19th Centuries
 Janssonius’ Danish Map (1629)
 High level of accuracy and detail
 He published the 11 volume Atlas Major,
containing the work of a hundred people

 Hondius’ World
Map (1630)
 The
quintessential
renaissance
map
 He improved
and reissued
Mercator’s atlas

 van Kuelen’s World
Map (1720)
 Based on Mercator’s
projection
 Portolan lines are
finally correct
(rhumb)

 California as an
island (1650)
 Idea came from a
1510 romance
novel
 Reinforced by
Ascension’s 1602
voyage
 Outlawed by
Ferdinand VII in
18th century

 Great Trigonometrical Survey (1837)
 Funded by the East India Company
 Built from a single baseline
 George Everest completed the
central spine

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Thematic mapping is only about 300 years old
 Developed primarily in Europe
 Used in conjunction with new statistical tools to describe
 The physical world (trade winds, magnetic declination, topography,
etc.)
 The social world (population, disease, ethnicities, etc.)

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Halley’s Wind
Map (1686)
 The first weather
map illustrates
prevailing winds

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Halley’s Declination
Map (1701)
 Isogons identify
variations in magnetism

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Smith’s Geological Map (1815)
 First geological map of Britain, and the basis
for all subsequent geological maps
 William “Strata” Smith developed the
“principle of faunal succession”

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Harness’ Transportation
Map (1837)
 The first flow map illustrates
transportation magnitudes via
proportionally scaled lines

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Montizon’s
Population Map
(1830)
 The first
population dot
density map

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Snow’s Cholera Map (1855)
 The first epidemiological
map (dot density) illustrates cholera
cases in relation to water pumps

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 d’Angeville’s
Population Map
(1836)
 An early choropleth
 Tone-value
relationship is
reversed

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Petermann’s Cholera Map (1848)
 An early density surface illustrating concentrations of cholera cases

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Pritchard’s
Ethnographic Map
(1843)
 A qualitative map
illustrating the
spatial distribution
of ethnic groups
 A chorochromatic
map
(“place-color”)

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Berghaus’ “Ideal” Geologic Cross-Section
(1838)
 From one of the most extensive and detailed
early thematic atlases

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Minard’s Emigration Flow Map (1862)
 Four attributes: magnitude, location, direction,
and nationalities/racial groups

EARLY THEMATIC MAPS
 Duchatelet’s Prostitute Map (1836)
 A choropleth map illustrating concentrations of prostitutes in Paris

History of cartography

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