Editing Cartography (section)

===Ancient times===
[[File:Paspardo roccia Vite29 rilievo foto.jpg|thumb|[[Rock Drawings in Valcamonica|Valcamonica rock art]] (I), Paspardo r. 29, topographic composition, 4th millennium BCE]]

What is the earliest known map is a matter of some debate, both because the term "map" is not well-defined and because some artifacts that might be maps might actually be something else. A wall painting that might depict the ancient Anatolian city of [[Çatalhöyük]] (previously known as Catal Huyuk or Çatal Hüyük) has been dated to the late 7th millennium BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Tale of two obsessed archeologists, one ancient city, and nagging doubts about whether science can ever hope to reveal the past |first=Robert |last=Kunzig |journal=[[Discover Magazine]] |date=May 1999 |url=http://discovermagazine.com/1999/may/archeologist |access-date=2011-07-08 |archive-date=2019-11-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191120061946/http://discovermagazine.com/1999/may/archeologist |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=A bird's eye view – of a leopard's spots. The Çatalhöyük 'map' and the development of cartographic representation in prehistory |first=Stephanie |last=Meece |journal=[[Anatolian Studies]] |volume=56 |pages=1–16 |year=2006 |jstor=20065543 |doi=10.1017/S0066154600000727 |s2cid=160549260 |url=http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/195777 |access-date=2008-12-02 |archive-date=2013-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725015218/http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/195777 |url-status=live }}</ref> Among the prehistoric alpine rock carvings of [[Mount Bego]] (France) and [[Val Camonica|Valcamonica]] (Italy), dated to the 4th millennium BCE, geometric patterns consisting of dotted rectangles and lines are widely interpreted<ref>{{cite book|last=Bicknell |first=Clarence |date=1913 |title=A Guide to the prehistoric Engravings in the Italian Maritime Alps, Bordighera}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Delano Smith |first=Catherine |date=1987 |chapter=Cartography in the Prehistoric Period in the Old World: Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa |editor1-last=Harley |editor1-first=J.B. |editor2-last=Woodward |editor2-first=D. |title=The History of Cartography: Cartography in Prehistoric, Ancient and Mediaeval Europe and the Mediterranean |volume=1 |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |pages=54–101 |chapter-url=http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/HOC/HOC_V1/HOC_VOLUME1_chapter4.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107172706/http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/HOC/HOC_V1/HOC_VOLUME1_chapter4.pdf |archive-date=2011-11-07 |url-status=live |access-date=December 2, 2014}}</ref> in archaeological literature as depicting cultivated plots.<ref>{{cite book |last=Arcà |first=Andrea |date=2004 |chapter=The topographic engravings of the Alpine rock-art: fields, settlements, and agricultural landscapes |editor1-last=Chippindale |editor1-first=C. |editor2-last=Nash |editor2-first=G. |title=The figured landscapes of Rock-Art |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=318–349 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1154206 |access-date=December 2, 2014 |archive-date=March 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326025635/https://www.academia.edu/1154206 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other known maps of the ancient world include the [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] "House of the Admiral" wall painting from {{Circa|1600 BCE}}, showing a seaside community in an oblique perspective, and an engraved map of the holy [[Babylonia]]n city of [[Nippur]], from the [[Kassites|Kassite]] period (14th{{spaced ndash}}12th centuries BCE).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/nippur-expedition |website=University of Chicago |title=The Nippur Expedition |access-date=2015-01-14 |archive-date=2022-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321164802/https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/nippur-expedition |url-status=live }}</ref> The oldest surviving world maps are from 9th century BCE [[Babylonian world map|Babylonia]].<ref name="Kurt A. Raaflaub & Richard J. A. Talbert 2009 147">{{Cite book|title=Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies |first1=Kurt A. |last1=Raaflaub |first2=Richard J. A. |last2=Talbert |publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4051-9146-3 |page=147}}</ref> One shows [[Babylon]] on the [[Euphrates]], surrounded by [[Assyria]], [[Urartu]]<ref>{{cite journal |first=Catherine Delano |last=Smith |year=1996 |title=Imago Mundi's Logo the Babylonian Map of the World |journal=[[Imago Mundi]] |volume=48 |pages=209–211 |jstor=1151277 |doi=10.1080/03085699608592846}}</ref> and several cities, all, in turn, surrounded by a "bitter river" ([[Oceanus]]).<ref>{{cite journal |first=Irving |last=Finel |title=A join to the map of the world: A notable discovery |year=1995 |volume=23 |pages=26–27 |journal=British Museum Magazine}}</ref> Another depicts Babylon as being north of the center of the world.<ref name="Kurt A. Raaflaub & Richard J. A. Talbert 2009 147"/>

[[File:Bedolina roccia 1 foto rilievo.jpg|thumb|left|The ''[[Bedolina Map]]'' and its tracing, 6th–4th century BCE]]

The [[ancient Greeks]] and [[Roman Empire|Romans]] created maps from the time of [[Anaximander]] in the 6th century BCE.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Cartography |url=http://au.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_781534525/cartography_history_of.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502013409/http://au.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_781534525/Cartography_History_of.html |archive-date=2006-05-02 }}</ref> In the 2nd century CE, [[Ptolemy]] wrote his [[treatise]] on cartography, [[Geographia]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=J. L. |last1=Berggren |first2=Alexander |last2=Jones |title=Ptolemy's Geography By Ptolemy |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |date=2001 |isbn=0-691-09259-1}}</ref> This contained [[Ptolemy's world map]] – the world then known to Western society ''([[Ecumene]])''. As early as the 8th century, Arab scholars were translating the works of the [[List of Graeco-Roman geographers|Greek geographers]] into Arabic.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Geography |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552030_3/geography.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091030172727/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761552030_3/Geography.html |archive-date=2009-10-30 }}</ref> [[Roman roads|Roads]] were essential in the Roman world, motivating the creation of maps, called ''[[itinerarium]]'', that portrayed the world as experienced via the roads. The {{lang|la|[[Tabula Peutingeriana]]}} is the only surviving example.

[[File:Add 19391 19-20.png|thumb|right|A 14th-century [[Byzantine]] map of the British Isles from a manuscript of [[Claudius Ptolemy|Ptolemy]]'s [[Ptolemy's Geography|''Geography'']], using Greek numerals for its [[Geographic coordinate system|graticule]]: 52–63°N of the [[equator]] and 6–33°E from Ptolemy's [[Prime Meridian]] at the [[Fortunate Isles]].]]

In [[ancient China]], geographical literature dates to the 5th century BCE. The oldest extant Chinese maps come from the [[Qin (state)|State of Qin]], dated back to the 4th century BCE, during the [[Warring States period]]. In the book ''Xin Yi Xiang Fa Yao'', published in 1092 by the [[China|Chinese]] scientist [[Su Song]], a [[star map]] on the equidistant cylindrical projection.<ref name="Miyajima">{{cite book |last=Miyajima |first=Kazuhiko |year=1997 |chapter=Projection methods in Chinese, Korean and Japanese star maps |title=Highlights of Astronomy |volume=11B |page=714 |editor-first=Johannes |editor-last=Andersen |location=Norwell |publisher=[[Kluwer Academic Publishers]] |isbn=978-0-7923-5556-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |year=1971 |series=Science and Civilization in China |volume=4 |title=Part 3: Civil Engineering and Nautics |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |page=569 |isbn=978-0-521-07060-7}}</ref> Although this method of charting seems to have existed in China even before this publication and scientist, the greatest significance of the star maps by Su Song is that they represent the oldest existent star maps in [[printing|printed]] form.

Early forms of [[cartography of India]] included depictions of the [[pole star]] and surrounding constellations.<ref name=Sircar3/> These charts may have been used for navigation.<ref name=Sircar3>{{cite book |last=Sircar |first=D. C. C. |year=1990 |title=Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers |isbn=978-81-208-0690-0 |page=330}}</ref>