"Those ancient humans who might have scratched directions in the sand or carved lines on wood were the first to practice the art of symbolic representation in the form of a map." https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/oldest-maps-world #History #Anthropology #Map #Cartography #histodon #histodons @histodon @histodons @anthropology
Source: https://twitter.com/laphamsquart/status/1666465537533313024
@bibliolater @histodon @histodons @anthropology The use of a late 19c construction (never re-construction) of the map ad mentem Eratosthenes is likely not the author’s doing, but the use of a world map to illustrate a piece about detailed maps of place reveals the deep rooted myth of cartography.
@mhedney Thank you Professor for your insightful comments. Playing devil's advocate, could not C15th Venice be considered 'medieval' at a very far stretch?
@bibliolater in this case, Prof. Smith is talking about map making in a city on the cutting edge of geography. Others in Venice were working on editions and working out implications of Ptolemy’s Geography, released ca. 1410 in Latin. Fra Mauro was working in part on a commission from the Portuguese, who’d been pushing new Atlantic voyages since 1420s.
@bibliolater and I failed to give the requisite hashtags #cartography #map #maphistory !!!