The biggest mistakes in mapmaking history - Kayla Wolf

翻译人员: Siyu Lian 校对人员: Thomas Tam

On a tiny copper globe created in the early 1500s,

在1500年代初制作的小型 铜制地球仪上，

the coast of Southeast Asia is marked with a message

东南亚的海岸线上被标上了

that has since become iconic:

后来成为标志性的一条信息：

Here be dragons.

巨龙出没。

Though the words themselves were actually quite rare,

虽然这些字本身并不多见，

the sentiment was common among medieval European mapmakers,

但这种情结在中世纪的欧洲 地图绘制者中是常见的。

who often scrawled dragons and sea monsters over terra incognita—

他们经常在地图空白的未知土地上

blank spots on the map.

涂鸦龙和海怪。

For thousands of years, people all over the world had made both functional maps—

数千年来，世界各地的人们 制作出了实用性的地图，

showing trade routes, settlements, topography, water sources,

显示贸易路线、定居点、地貌、 水源、海岸线的形状和书面指示。

the shapes of coastlines, or written directions—

and what are known as cosmographies,

以及所谓的宇宙图，

illustrating the Earth and its position in the cosmos,

显示地球和它在宇宙中的位置，

often including constellations, gods, and mythic locations.

通常包括星座、 神灵和神话中的地点。

From the Middle Ages through the mid-17th century,

从中古世纪到17世纪中期，

cartographers in Eurasia and North Africa produced a slew of new world maps

欧亚和北非的制图者们 制作了大量具有这两种

with features from both these traditions.

传统特征的新世界地图。

制图者通常是受统治者 或者其他有权利的人委托的。

Often commissioned by rulers and other powerful people,

these maps were meant to depict the world’s geography,

这些地图是为了描绘世界地理，

but not necessarily to be useful for navigation.

对航行不一定有帮助。

And given their maker’s incomplete knowledge of the world,

由于制图者对世界不完整的认知，

they were really hypotheses—

绘制的地图其实是假设性的，

some of which have been glaringly disproven.

其中的一些地图 已经被明显地否定了。

In medieval Europe, the new vogue began with what were known as mappae mundi.

在中世纪的欧洲， 新的时尚始于赫里福德世界地图。

Many of these veered closer to cosmographies,

许多的这类地图更接近于宇宙图，

featuring the Garden of Eden or mythical dragons.

以伊甸园或神话中的龙为主题。

They all followed the same format,

它们都遵循了同样的格式，

showing the world's land as one mass divided roughly into the shape of a T

将世界陆地作为一个整体， 大致分为T字形，

and surrounded by a ring of ocean.

被一圈海洋包围。

Islamic mapmakers also created world maps in this format,

伊斯兰地图绘制者也制作了 同样格式的世界地图，

emphasizing geographic details over fantastical elements.

强调了地理细节而非幻想元素。

One of the earliest and most accurate such maps was created by Ibn Hawqal,

伊本·哈克尔是最早和准确 制作出这种地图的人之一。

whose own travels informed his mapmaking.

他的出行为他的地图制作 提供了素材。

In 1154, the King of Sicily commissioned Islamic mapmaker Al-Idrisi

在1154年， 西西里岛国王委托了

伊斯兰地图绘制者伊德里西

to create the “Tabula Rogeriana,”

去绘制《鲁杰罗之书》。

also known as “A Guide to Pleasant Journeys into Faraway Lands.”

又称《渴望周游世界者的娱乐》。

This book of maps included a world map based on Idrisi’s own travel

这本书包括了基于伊德里西 自己出行的世界地图，

and interviews with other traders and travelers.

还有与其他贸易商 和旅行者的对话。

He correctly depicted the world as a flattened sphere,

他正确地将世界描绘成 一个扁平的球体，

but thought Europe, Asia, and North Africa wrapped all the way around it.

但认为欧洲、亚洲和北非 一直包裹着它。

The “Da Ming Hunyi Tu” was created in China in 1389

《大明混一图 》 制作于1389年的中国，

on a piece of silk big enough to fill an entire room.

在一片足够填满 整个房间的丝绸上。

Though the mapmakers had never been to Africa,

虽然地图绘制者没有去过非洲，

they attempted to depict the continent

但他们尝试根据 去过那里的贸易商的叙述

based on the accounts of the traders who’d been there.

来绘制出非洲大陆。

Surprisingly, this gave them enough information to create

令人惊喜的是这提供了 足够多信息去绘制

a correctly shaped portrayal of sub-Saharan Africa.

正确的撒哈拉以南非洲的地形。

Beginning in the 15th century, European cartographers began to expand

16世纪的早期， 在欧洲探险家走遍世界的同时，

the scope of their world maps as their explorers traveled the world—

欧洲的制图者开始扩展 他们世界地图的范围。

but not without missteps.

不过，并非没有失误。

In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemuller mapped the Americas—

在1507年，德国制图者

马丁·瓦尔德塞穆勒

as a thin sliver of land where the east coast would be.

绘制美洲为东海岸的一片薄薄的土地。

Spanish cartographers took a stab at the western side of the Americas

根据一次远征巴哈半岛的记录，

based on accounts from an expedition to the Baja Peninsula.

西班牙制图者尝试绘制出 美洲的西侧。

Unfortunately, the explorers’ impressions of the land led them astray:

不幸的是，探险家 对这片土地的印象

使他们误入歧途。

for over 100 years after, Spanish maps depicted the “Island of California”

之后的100多年里， 西班牙地图描绘了

detached from the rest of the continent.

与大陆的其他部分 分离的“加利福尼亚岛”

The Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator,

佛兰德制图师杰拉德·墨卡托

best known for his world map,

以绘制世界地图而闻名，

also created a map of the never-before-seen North Pole

同时绘制了一幅 从未见过的北极地图，

that was published in 1595.

并于1595年出版。

Mercator speculated that the North Pole prominently featured

墨卡托推测北极的显着特征 是“黑卢比”，

the “Rupes Nigra,” a giant magnetic rock surrounded by a whirlpool

一块被漩涡所包围的巨大磁岩。

that explained why all compasses point north.

它解释了为什么 所有的指南针都指向北方。

Even as Europeans built towards a complete picture of the Earth,

在欧洲人建立一个 对地球的完整认识的时候，

they didn’t entirely let go of the idea of blank spots filled with mythic beasts.

他们并没有完全放弃 用神话中的野兽填补空白的想法。

As late as 1657, English scholar Peter Heylin lumped Australia together

晚至1657年，

英国学者彼得·海林

with Utopia and Fairyland.

将澳大利亚 与乌托邦和仙境混为一谈。

But with the exception of the North Pole,

除了北极地区之外，

these so-called terra incognita weren’t really unknown—

这些没有被发现的土地 并不是未知的，

at least not to the people who lived there.

至少对住在那里的人们来说。

There weren’t really dragons anywhere on Earth,

地球上并没有这些神话中的野兽，

but there were people and cultures—

但有的是原住民和文化——

many of them eradicated by those who put their lands on world maps.

大部分被绘制地图的人刪除了。