The Origins, History, Value, and Future of Cartography

THE ORIGINS, HISTORY, VALUE AND FUTURE OF CARTOGRAPHY Introduction Cartography has existed for thousands of years. From the early days of tribes marking off where their best hunting grounds are, to the modern day of mapping flight paths, cartography has evolved and developed in various ways to what it is today. There are now technologies that allow for people to design maps in ways never imagined before. Computer programmes exist that allow for different types of data to be stored so that accurate representations can be formed. It has been said that,†Maps are pictures of the world’s land surface, showing its features, resources and the way it has been developed.† (Bondi, et al., 1977) Origins and History The beginnings of Cartography It has been said that Cartography originated thousands of years ago. Wall paintings believed to represent a maps of the heavens exist all around the world. The oldest maps that have been preserved on Babylonian clay tablets are from around 2300 B.C. Cartography as a whole was dominant in Greece as the subject was more advanced than other locations and so the spherical Earth was well known amongst Greek philosophers. (Aber, 2008). The reference-line principle was created by one of Aristotle’s disciples. Dichaearchus was this disciple’s name and he obtained this theory by placing an orientation line that ran from east to west. (Fuechsel, 2013) The Roman Era is the next part of history where Cartography was involved in. Maps in this timeShow MoreRelatedIdentity And The Search For The Self Among The Sub Continental Diaspora10173 Words   |  41 Pagesfixed, contrastive and all inclusive leading to labelling of an individual and the group and their traits with a mark. According to Roy Baumeister (Identity, cultural change and the struggle for self, 1986), the changes in the social structure across history- be it social, economical, political and cultural- has resulted in the changes in the approaches to the identity theory. 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