Cartography Timeline

  • 6700 BCE

    map of Catal Hyuk

    map of Catal Hyuk
  • 3000 BCE

    Babylonian clay tablets

    Babylonian clay tablets
  • 3000 BCE

    first map of the moon

  • 600 BCE

    map of Babylonian empire

  • 600 BCE

    Pythagoras determines earth is a spere

  • 200 BCE

    Eratosthenes determines circumference of earth, establishes coordinate grid

  • 150 BCE

    Hipparchus creates early system of latitude based on the sun

  • 150

    Ptolemy creates world map with coordinates for 8,00 locations

    Ptolemy creates world map with coordinates for 8,00 locations
  • 476

    Roman Empire collapses,scientific cartography halts in Europe

  • 830

    Al-Khwarizmi produces world map partly based on Ptolemy's work

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

    Al-Biruni develops triangulation

    Al-Biruni develops triangulation
  • 1375

    Abraham Cresques produces world map using portolan maps

  • 1569

    Gerardus Mercator publishes his first projection for navigation

  • sextant developed

    sextant developed
  • John Harrison develops accurate clock for determining longitude at sea

  • International Meridian Conference chooses Greenwich as the prime meridan

  • GIS and GPS are developed from aerial and satellite imagery