A map is defined as a representation of the
whole or a part of an area. Maps are usually prepared on a flat
surface, but globes are also maps in that they represent the entire
earth. Although we think of maps as depicting geographical areas, they
can also be used to represent other areas, such as the heavens or parts
of the human body. We therefore say that explorers map the earth,
astronomers map the heavens, and geneticists map chromosomes. For our
purposes in Cartographic Connections, we consider a map any
representation of a geographic area – that is, a part or all of the
earth’s surface. That surface usually contains many things that the map
maker wants us to see in one image, for example, roads, cities, and
lakes. Maps above all help us to graphically display spatial
relationships. By using a map, we can show the relationship between one
feature -- such as a mountain -- to others, such as rivers or cities.
Maps can depict many types of phenomena in the encounter between people
and place. They may reveal natural encounters as people represent the
physical environment, cultural encounters as they show where two or more
groups of people interact, political encounters as two or more nations
come in contact, and technological encounters as a result of humankind’s
ingenuity in developing transportation systems, agricultural areas, and
mining locations.
Maps are most often drawn or
printed on paper, but they may also be produced on any surface. They may
be drawn in the sand or on leather hides. In some parts of the world,
people make maps out of anything handy, for example, sticks or other
objects. As long as they show a place, and can help people understand
the relationship between spatial phenomena, they are really maps. Some
maps take even more unusual forms. Certain archaeologists believe that
some petroglyphs (images incised into rock surfaces) and pictographs
(images painted on rock surfaces) may be maps because they appear to
show information about places, such as hunting areas, water holes, and
routes of travel. Because all people think in terms of where things are
in relationship to where other things are (for example home in relation
to school) we should realize that many maps are never produced in flat
form at all but are only in our minds; these are called “mental maps.”
We commonly use them to
communicate graphic information about places to others. Maps are used
for many purposes in daily life -- to help people navigate from place to
place, to identify real estate, to indicate areas where certain things
(like coal or oil) are found. Politicians use maps to show territories
of their political constituents, and advertisers may use maps to direct
us to their products and services.
Cartographers make maps. You
become a cartographer when you draw a map to help someone find your
home. This happens when you translate your mental map into a graphic
representation by taking pencil to paper and showing where things are in
relationship to each other. Because you draw that map by hand and make
only one copy, it is considered a “manuscript map.” If you were to
produce a number of copies (on a printing press or your computer) it
would be a “printed” map.
When you draw a map, you become
part of a long tradition stretching back thousands of years. You join
other cartographers in the field called cartography – the art and
science of map making. Although we may be prone to associate maps with
particular periods in world history, such as the age of European
exploration, it is safe to say that all peoples make and use maps of
some type.
For more information on the basics of cartography, see:
Brown, Lloyd A. The Story of Maps (New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1977).
Thrower, Norman J. W. Maps and Civilization 2nd edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999).
Wilford, John Noble Mapmakers 2nd edition (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000).
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