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The Oldest Maps in the World
- vkou 3y ago> It’s also the first map made from a bird’s-eye view, which suggests a kind of sophisticated and abstract symbolic thinking that typifies modern humans. Aren't modern humans largely unchanged for the past XY,000 years? Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that this is the kind of sophisticated and abstract symbolic thinking that typifies modern human cultures? People aren't going to think (as much) in abstract symbolic ways, if their culture doesn't.
- qup 3y agoI picked that same sentence out to quote. I think it's wrong, first and foremost: the map is almost certainly not the first bird's-eye view map, it's just the oldest known. And I guess sure, it typifies modern humans, but it's a meaningless sentence. "Roses are red."
- oh_sigh 3y agoIt's also possible that the artist drew the picture of what they saw after climbing the nearby mountain/volcano, so no perspective leap was (necessarily) required.
- vkou 3y agoConsidering that cave paintings have perspective leaps, I don't think climbing a mountain was necessary for one.
- jmclnx 3y agoThe WEB site is giving me a 404
- jmclnx 3y agoGot in today, nice!
- gen220 3y agoRelated – not all maps are some variation of impressions and depressions on a flat surface! I think I first heard about these here, the idea keeps bubbling up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands_stick_chart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands_stick_chart I don't know if "we" know how old the stick-chart tradition is, but it probably gives cave paintings a run for the money. Cave paintings and engraved tablets are comparatively quite good at surviving into the age of contemporary archaeology/anthropology.
- prox 3y agoSince I didn’t see it in the article : a link I found for the oldest map from Mezhirich : https://donsmaps.com/mammothcamp.html https://donsmaps.com/mammothcamp.html
- detourdog 3y agoThank you that is better source than what I found. The first thing I was struck by was the mammoth head with red marks could also be a map rather than interpretive art. It seems like early literacy may have used bone as part of the medium. https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/picturedisplay.asp?linkpath=pic%5CM%5CE%5CMezhyrich%20archeological%20site%20map.jpg&page=pages%5CM%5CE%5CMezhyricharcheologicalsite.htm&id=34368&pid=12385&tyt=Mezhyrich%20archeological%20site&key=Mezhyrich+archeological+site%2C+Межиріцька+стоянка%3B+Mezhyritska+stoianka https://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/picturedisplay.asp?lin...
- sgt 3y agoJust as the article gets interesting, it stopped! I guess I need to buy the book as it is pretty fascinating.