How Did the First Maps Come to Be Made?

Long ago, people used maps to find their way through the world. At first, they drew simple pictures of land and water on clay or stone. Over time, they learned how to show directions with symbols and lines, like drawing a river as a wiggly line. It was kind of like playing with blocks, making shapes that told stories about places far away.

Take the quiz →

Examples

  1. A child draws a picture of her neighborhood using a stick to show streets and pebbles for houses.
  2. An ancient person marks the path from their village to a nearby river on a piece of clay.
  3. A mapmaker uses simple lines and shapes to represent an entire kingdom.

Ask a question

See also

Discussion

Recent activity

Nothing here yet.