Unusual And Marvelous Maps

By Miss Cellania in Travel on Aug 18, 2009 at 9:33 am

I love looking at ancient maps. Even those that are relatively correct feature fantastic artwork in the spaces that would otherwise have no information. But some of those extra decorations had a purpose.

The richly decorated Carta Marina, from 1539 might seem a little crude by today’s standards but modern satellite imaging revealed that the sea monsters shown in parts of the ocean on the map actually correspond to well known storm fronts, dangerous currents and maritime hazards. This was perhaps just a method of depicting this at the time, as a warning to sailors venturing into these areas

This picture is just a small detail of the Carta Marina. See the full map and many others in a roundup of old maps at Dark Roasted Blend. Link

Tags: History, maps, monsters, seafaring

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Gauldar
Aug 18th, 2009 at 10:04 am
I love this stuff! Combinations of geography, politics, art and mythology all rolled into one peice.
Scotchdrnkr
Aug 18th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
A fellow draftsman & I used to draw sea monsters on our surveys in no print pencil when ever we drew a survey along a water way. We used the no print pencil because you couldn’t allow these to show up on the printed copies that would be sent out to the client. Basically it was purple pencil and when you ran it through the print machine they wouldn’t show up.
anonymoussss
Aug 18th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
I wish the pictures were larger =(
Aislinn O'Connor
Aug 19th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Love these maps! I’m delighted to hear the “monsters” have a purpose – makes them much more real, somehow!

Also enjoy the thought of Scotchdrnkr & his colleague adding sea-monsters to their river surveys – if it wasn’t for getting them into trouble, I would love to see their clients’ faces if a few slipped through the net and made it to the final version… :–)
Nicholas Dollak
Aug 20th, 2009 at 9:17 am
Hail to Scotchdrinkr & Co.! I too embellish mapped directions with sea monsters and “Here be Dragons” and “Terra Incognita,” etc.

When I read this article, I found myself thinking of Scylla & Charybdis from Homer’s “Odyssey.”

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