Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Finally, the study shows that pre-geodetic maps usually should not be regarded as
completely original technical products but rather as an assemblage of various data-sets
coming from previous sources. Thus, a study of ancient cartography should start from a
philological analysis of the maps (i.e. search for origin, target, models, cultural atmosphere
of that time) and it should subsequently become a “stratigraphic” reading of both
relationships existing among the drawing details and accidents affecting the maps. A
thorough knowledge of the ancient field surveying techniques (i.e. pathways, distances,
contemporaneous use of various kinds of instruments, previous cartographic sources, etc.) is
essential in order to understand genesis and size of the surveying errors recorded in the
map, and therefore it is also essential to direct the georeferencing techniques towards the
definition of the real topography and morphology of those areas that today no longer exist,
e.g. due to natural environmental processes. In other words, the technical approach to
ancient cartography cannot be reduced to a simple georeferencing attempt; the
georeferencing should rather act as an essential support for a deep analysis of the maps, that
in this way can become a more useful tool to various classes of researchers.
Author details
Gabriele Bitelli and Giorgia Gatta
Department of Civil, Environmental and Materials Engineering (DICAM),
Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Stefano Cremonini
Department of Earth and Geological-Environmental Sciences,
Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to the Venice National Archive, for the consultation of the map by Fabri and
the map by Lorini et al., and to the Engineering Faculty Library
Gian Paolo Dore
of the
University of Bologna, for the consultation of the textbook by O. Fabri.
7. References
Adcock E.P, Varlamoff M.T, Kremp V (2004)
Principi dell'IFLA per la cura e il trattamento dei
materiali di biblioteca.
Bari: IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and
Institutions).
Balletti C (2006) Georeference in the analysis of the geometric content of early maps. e-
Perimetron, Vol. 1, No. 1. pp 32-42. Available:
http://www.e-perimetron.org/Vol_1_1/Vol1_1.htm.
Benavides J., Koster E. (2006) Identifying surviving landmarks on historical maps, e-
Perimetron, Vol. 1, No. 3. pp 287-296. Available:
http://www.e-perimetron.org/Vol_1_3/Vol1_3.htm.
