Old Map, New Map

Maps have influenced the world greatly. From the early history of man to today, maps have had a large part in the development of humans. The uses of maps continue to grow greatly as technology advances with time. In the past, only a select view were able to use maps but with newer technology and wider distribution, maps are being used by the media, and by society as a whole.
Maps have had a powerful impact throughout history helping with the civilization and development of humans. The earliest maps date back to the Stone Age and predate any form of written language by thousands of years. In fact, one of the oldest surviving maps is painted on a wall of the Catal Huyuk settlement in south central Turkey and is believed to have been painted around 6200 B.C. (Wikipedia). Throughout the early history of humans, many maps were made to show land plots and mining areas as well. For example, a clay tablet dating back to 3000 B.C. was found and contained a map showing a river valley between two hills. Cuneiform inscriptions, label features on the map which include a plot of land which is owned by a person called Azala. This map also contains markings that detail the cardinal direction. Maps drawn by the Egyptians were found that detail the mountains to the east of the Nile River where gold and silver were mined. These maps included descriptions of the mines, the shelters miners used, wells, and a road network that connected them all.
The purpose of modern maps isn’t much different than those used over 2,000 yrs ago. The only real difference is the technology used to make and view those maps. Maps are much the same now as in the past. People still use maps for land partitioning, city planning and even for mining just as they did in ancient Egypt. The fact that maps have lasted as long as they have is just proof that maps are important in any culture and that finding ways to make and improve maps is always a priority.
The map in the upper right corner of this blog is an old map of North America courtesy of the Ansari map library at the University of Nevada, Reno.