A fragment-based approach for computing the long-term visual evolution of historical maps

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.