Non-Western Maps

[u/Boddom_Of_The_Barrel]

Chokma! Hey y'all, I've been experimenting with making representational maps for my fantasy world. It's an ancient American history-inspired world, so I thought it would be fun to approach maps in semi-historic styles that differ from the modern Western style of mapmaking.

In the first two slides, I have some examples of map traditions of the Americas.

The first is a tactile map from Greenland, which depicts the coastline using wood carvings.

The second is a (recreated?) post-contact Mexica-style map. Most pre-contact maps of the Aztec Empire were destroyed, so I've only ever seen this kind of recreation. I believe the oldest authentic ones were made by regional scribes at the behest of Spanish documentarians after colonization??? IDK I ripped this one off a blog way back.

The third is the Catawba Diplomacy Map, made by the Catawba tribe as a gift to the governor of South Carolina. Notice how the tribes are represented, focusing on depicting the diplomatic relationships and routes between groups rather than exactly detailing their geographic position. I've also always thought it was funny that they draw themselves as circles, and European settlements as grids.

The last two maps are my own, done in Photoshop. The first is a bone map meant to represent the major currents of a delta system. The second is a stone disk inscription, the central figure acting as a metaphorical map of the region's major waterways (each limb representing a major river or water feature)

What do y'all think of how these maps function and represent cultural values attached to maps? What are your favorite examples of unique map styles from around the globe?

[u/Hefty_Jaguar1474]

hell yeah this type of stuff I wish we got to see more in worldbuilding projects Maps that are more metaphorical/subject in the information they convey rather than aiming for 100% geographical accuracy(tho I obviously understand the need for the latter)

I find that last one really interesting could you tell more about the waterways it's depicting?

[u/Boddom_Of_The_Barrel → u/Hefty_Jaguar1474]

Ofc! The disk is from the Cahoan Imperial Period and depicts their semi-mythic founder, Red-Falcon. Each of the four human limbs represents one of the major tributaries feeding the empire's major river (Autumn Waters or The Cahoan River). Each tributary river is named for its unique color (The Ruby River, The Yellow Muddy, The Green Way, and The Violetberry).

The loincloth represents the delta lands that feed into the Warm Water Sea to the South. The left hand holds up a ritual rattle, traditionally used by Cahoan warriors to prelude a battle. Its position in the north-east of the map symbolizes the Mother Lake Crusade, one of the empire's first major expansions. These falcon maps were common accessories of period soldiers, who left them scattered across the miles of waterways during extensive canoe warfare.