History of Cartography

By katynightingale
  • 6700 BCE

    map of Catal Hyuk

    *from a Neolithic site in modern Turkey. It is either a map or a landscape painting.
  • 3000 BCE

    Babylonian clay tablets

  • 3000 BCE

    first map of the moon

  • 600 BCE

    Pythagoras determines earth is a sphere

  • 600 BCE

    map of Babylonian empire

  • 200 BCE

    Eratosthenes determines the circumference of earth

    He also establishes the coordinate grid
  • 150 BCE

    Hipparchus creates early system of latitude based on the sun

  • 150

    Ptolemy creates world map

    Includes coordinates for 8000 locations!
  • 476

    scientific cartography halts in Europe

    Roman Empire collapses
  • 830

    world map produced

    Al-Khwarizmi produces a world map based on Ptolemy's work
  • 1030

    Al-Biruni develops triangulation

  • 1375

    Abraham Cresques produces world map using portolan maps

  • 1569

    Gerardus Mercator publishes first projection for navigation

  • sextant developed

  • longitude able to be calculated at sea

    John Harrison develops the chronometer which allows for the determination of longitude while sailing

  • Prime Meridian chosen

    International Meridian Conference chooses Greenwich as the prime meridian

  • GIS/GPS

    High quality satellite maps and aerial images lead to development of GIS (geographic information systems) and GPS (global positioning system