History of

Cartography
History of
Cartography
 Sequence of development
 Cartography in China
 Cartography in Europe
 Impact of changing ideas
 Impact of changing technology
 Information age mapping

History of Cartography 2
Sequence of
Development
 Evolution - the ladder concept.
 “Missing links” - gaps in development.
 Revolution - the tree concept.
 Each revolution leads to a new map type.
 Map types develop in evolutionary fashion,
until the next revolutionary change occurs.

History of Cartography 3
 Cartographic
Development
Origin
Present
A
Ladder Concept

Origin
Present
B

Tree Concept

History of Cartography 4
 Cartographic
Revolution and
Evolution 0 A.D.
200 A.D.
≈ 30,000 B.C.

500 A.D.

1200 A.D.

1700 A.D.

1800 A.D.

1900 A.D.

2000 A.D.

The diverse map types we know today emerged through a long

process of cartographic revolution and evolution.
(From Robinson, et al., 1995)
History of Cartography 5
Early
Development
 Nobody knows when the first map was
made.
 Principles of cartography were understood
as early as 2500 BC. When Babylonians
drew maps on clay tablets.

History of Cartography 6
Early
Mesopota
mian Map
of the
World

The earliest extant world

map is a Babylonian clay
tablet from the sixth
century B.C., on which
Earth is shown as a flat
circular disc surrounded
by ocean and several
mythical islands.
(From Wilford, 2000)

History of Cartography 7
 A Map From
Ancient Egypt
An map made in
Ancient Egypt with
an estimated date to
3200 B.C. showing
the trace of gold
workings in Egypt.
The map, now in
Turin, depicts gold
workings around the
time of King Seti I
(1350-1205 B.C.).
(From GEOEurope, January 2000)

History of Cartography 8
 Cartography in
China
 Astronomical knowledge existed in Shang ( 商 )
Dynasty, 11th century B.C.
 “Fragment on Maps” 480-100 B.C.
 Three maps made in Han ( 漢 ) Dynasty (2nd century
B.C.) were discovered.
 In a tomb ( 長沙馬王堆漢墓 ).
 made in silk.
 one topographic map focused on military matters: streams,
roads, mountain ranges, names, scale and orthogonal view
point.

For more details please check web page

http://geog.hkbu.edu.hk/geog1150/Chinese

History of Cartography 9
An
Over
2000
Year
Old
Map
Ancient Chinese
topographical map
(200 B.C.): A silk map
in the ancient tombs.
"Their great
significance lies in the
fact that they are in
part surprisingly
accurate and detailed
and show that the art of
cartography was well
advanced at this time".
— Bulling, 1978 (cited in Wilford,
2000)

History of Cartography 10
Cartography in
China (Cont.)

 The first compass was invented in China.

 司南 ( 戰國 , 453-221 B.C.).
 was not widely used until North Song Dynasty ( 北宋 ,
960-1126 A.D.) when the artificial magnetisation was
invented.
 introduced to Europe in 12th century.
 Paper-making was invented in 105 A.D., East
Han Dynasty ( 東漢 , 25-220 A.D.).
 The first printing of map 1155 A.D. (South Song
Dynasty: 南宋 , 1127-1279, 300 years before
Europe).

History of Cartography 11
 The Ancient
Compass

Up: The earliest magnetic compass Si-

nan ( 司南 ) made in West Han Dynasty
( 西漢 , 206 B.C. – 8 A.D.). Right: the
clay figure made in South Song
Dynasty ( 南宋 , 1127-1279 A.D.)
showing the rather modern look
compass held in the man's hand.
(The National Museum of Chinese History)

History of Cartography 12
 Ancient Mechanic
Devices
The compass coach
invented in the "Three-
Nation" eras ( 三國 , 220-
280 A.D.).

The mileage coach invented

in the East Han Dynasty.
(models made according to historical records, The
National Museum of Chinese History)

History of Cartography 13
 The Earliest Paper
Map
The earliest paper
map made in the
West Han Dynasty,
almost at the same
time when the paper
itself was invented by
Chinese. The paper
map was discovered
in an ancient tomb in
Gansu Province ( 甘
肅天水放馬灘 5 號漢
墓 ), western China.
(The Provincial Museum of Gansu)

History of Cartography 14
 The Earliest
Printed Map
The earliest
printed map
made in the
South Song
Dynasty
showing east
part of China
in the modern
history.
(Beijing Library)

History of Cartography 15
Cartography in
Europe
 Aristotle (384-322 B.C.): Earth is a
sphere.
 Ptolemy (90-160 A.D.): Geographia.
 Development in medieval period (the
“dark age”) was limited, except the
sudden appearance in 13th century of
“portolan charts”.

History of Cartography 16
Ancient Greece

Map of Hecataeus (about 500 B.C.): by an empirical approach, relying on

exploration and travel instead of pure geometry alone.
(From Dorling and Fairbairn, 1997)

History of Cartography 17
The Roman
Empire
The world-view of the
Roman Empire (400
A.D.): A circular earth
disc, set in a
surrounding ocean,
became the dominant
interpretation of the
Middle Ages
cartographer.
(From Dorling and Fairbairn,
1997)

History of Cartography 18
 Typology of
E
mappae mundi E
River
an
Ri
ve Quadripartite
ce r
O

n
ea
ASIA ASIA

Oc

River
ANTIPODES
N Don Nile S N Don Nile S
Mediterranean

Mediterranean

Ocean
EUROPE

AFRICA
EUROPE AFRICA

FRIDID ZONE

W TEMPERATE W
Tripartite ZONE

TORRID
Ocean River
ZONE

TEMPERATE
ZONE

Zonal
FRIDID ZONE Transitional

History of Cartography (From Harley and Woodward, 1987, cited in Dorling and Fairbairn, 1997) 19
 The
Ebstorf
Map

The Ebstorf map

showing Christ's
head, hands and
feet at the extents
of the world (1235
A.D.).
(From Dorling and Fairbairn,
1997)

History of Cartography 20
Cartography in
Europe (Cont.)

 The renaissance in western cartography (later

half of 1500s)
 beginning of printing (1450)
 Great Discovery (e.g. Columbus) led to more accurate
maps
 topographic survey (France) at 1:86,400 completed in
1800
 The introduction of metric system (Napoleon)
 1 metre = 1/10,000,000 part of the arc distance from
the equator to the pole

History of Cartography 21
Cartography in
Europe (Cont.)

 The rise of thematic maps

 Until 18th century, most maps are general
maps and charts
 From late 17th century, thematic maps began
to appear
 The growth of modern cartography since
19th century with the inventions of
photography and computers

History of Cartography 22
Impact of
Changing Ideas
 Concept of representation
 Early maps: more figurative than literal
 Geometry
 Shape and size of the earth
 Locational reference system
 Reconciling conflicting information
 Church maps

History of Cartography 23
Figurative Maps

Abstract stick charts

helped Polynesians
navigate between
remote South Sea
Islands by somehow
representing essential
characteristics of
prevailing winds and
currents.
(From Robinson, et al., 1995)

History of Cartography 24
 The Map Based on
Ptolemy's
Descriptions
The map constructed
in the 15th century
from Ptolemy's
written directions and
descriptions, and
reflects geographical
knowledge of the
known world in the
2nd century A.D.
(From Robinson, et al., 1995)

History of Cartography 25
Impact of
Changing Ideas (Cont.)

 Science and measurement

 the concept of order: cause-effect relations
 chance (or probability)
 Enlightenment - positional accuracy
 Concept of distribution
 place - general reference maps
 space - the spatial extent and variation of
features - the idea of distribution
 thematic maps

History of Cartography 26
 Early Survey in
France
The perceived
shape of
France before
and after the
1693 survey by
Picard and La
Hire (revised
coastline in
bold).
(from Dorling and Fairbairn,
1997)

History of Cartography 27
Impact of
Changing Ideas (Cont.)

 Systems/ecological thinking
 ecological model: view the environment as a
system of interrelated processes
 systems approach
 cartographic modelling: environmental
phenomena are selected, weighted by
importance, and linked together to form a
numerical index

History of Cartography 28
Impact of
Changing
Technology
 Manual: mappae mundi and portolan charts -
hand drawing
 Magnetic: compass and magnetic media
 Mechanical: machine process and printing
 Optical: telescopic sighting instruments and
projection, optical media
 Photo-chemical: photogrammetry
 Electronic: computer process

History of Cartography 29
 Impact of
Changing
Technology Electronic

Photo-chemical

Optical

Mechanical
Magnetic

Manual

1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
History of Cartography 30
 Manual
Technology
A formschneider (one
who carves woodcuts) at
work in front of a window.
In those days there was
no satisfactory substitute
for daylight.
"Manual mapping
procedures were
dominant during the
longest period in the
recorded history of
cartography".
— Robinson, et al., 1995

History of Cartography 31
Mechanic
al
Technolo
gy
Printing from a
copperplate engraving
with the rolling press was
a hard work.
"Machine power
augmented and magnified
human muscle power. The
result was a major
increase in the speed and
efficiency of the mapping
process, with a
commensurate reduction
in mapping cost".
— Robinson, et al., 1995

History of Cartography 32
Information Age
Mapping
 Information age.
 Information.
 Information systems.
 Geographical information systems (GIS).
 Maps play a key role in GIS.
 GIS are crucial in modern mapping.

History of Cartography 33
 Mapping With GIS

Statistical
Tools

Editing
Data Data Data
Structuring Manipulation Map
collection Base
Updating

Graphical
Tools

History of Cartography 34