A fragment-based approach for computing the long-term visual evolution of historical maps
Remi Petitpierre (),
Johannes H. Uhl,
Isabella Lenardo and
Frédéric Kaplan
Additional contact information
Remi Petitpierre: Digital Humanities Institute, EPFL
Johannes H. Uhl: University of Colorado
Isabella Lenardo: Digital Humanities Institute, EPFL
Frédéric Kaplan: Digital Humanities Institute, EPFL
Palgrave Communications, 2024, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-18
Abstract:
Abstract Cartography, as a strategic technology, is a historical marker. Maps are tightly connected to the cultural construction of the environment. The increasing availability of digital collections of historical map images provides an unprecedented opportunity to study large map corpora. Corpus linguistics has led to significant advances in understanding how languages change. Research on large map corpora could in turn significantly contribute to understanding cultural and historical changes. We develop a methodology for cartographic stylometry, with an approach inspired by structuralist linguistics, considering maps as visual language systems. As a case study, we focus on a corpus of 10,000 French and Swiss maps, published between 1600 and 1950. Our method is based on the fragmentation of the map image into elementary map units. A fully interpretable feature representation of these units is computed by contrasting maps from different, coherent cartographic series, based on a set of candidate visual features (texture, morphology, graphical load). The resulting representation effectively distinguishes between map series, enabling the elementary units to be grouped into types, whose distribution can be examined over 350 years. The results show that the analyzed maps underwent a steady abstraction process during the 17th and 18th centuries. The 19th century brought a lasting scission between small- and large-scale maps. Macroscopic trends are also highlighted, such as a surge in the production of fine lines, and an increase in map load, that reveal cultural fashion processes and shifts in mapping practices. This initial research demonstrates how cartographic stylometry can be used for exploratory research on visual languages and cultural evolution in large map corpora, opening an effective dialogue with the history of cartography. It also deepens the understanding of cartography by revealing macroscopic phenomena over the long term.
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-024-02840-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palcom:v:11:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-024-02840-w
Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/about
DOI: 10.1057/s41599-024-02840-w
Access Statistics for this article
More articles in Palgrave Communications from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().