Map Library Assignment

CLAS/ARTH 1509
Trash & Treasure, Temples & Tombs: Art & Archaeology of the Ancient World
Fall 2005

Katie Lage-Map Librarian

This web page will help you complete Part 1 of Assignment #4. You'll find an introduction to Map Library resources, a quick lesson on how to read maps, and the maps you'll need to complete the assignment.

Introduction to Map Library Resources

The Map Library Collection
The Map Library collection consists of about 200,000 maps, over 500 atlases and geographic reference books, and a growing collection of digital spatial data. Our collection provides well-rounded, world-wide coverage comprised of general and thematic maps and atlases at small and large scales and related reference materials such as gazetteers.

The Map Library is located on the lower level of the Jerry Crail Johnson Earth Sciences & Map Library, in Benson Earth Sciences. Map

Understanding & Using Maps

Use these links to learn more about scale, USGS topographic map symbols, important considerations in cartography, and other map-related basics.

A Brief Guide to Reading Maps: A great basic introduction to maps and how to read them. From the Statistics Canada website.

Making Sense of Maps: Discusses the basics of map use from the perspective of maps as historical evidence. From History Matters.

Understand Maps, from About.com's Geography section
Clear articles about various aspects of maps, such as scale, latitude and longitude, and map projections.

Topographic Maps: A discussion about topographic maps including map symbols and how to read a topographic map. From the USGS.

Maps for Assignment #4, Part 1

Map 1:
The Bay of Naples, from the Barrington Atlas, 1:500,000

Legend from the Barrington Atlas--in sections.

Period Colors: the Barrington Atlas shows features over time. This chart identifies what time period a feature existed.
Cultural Features: roads, aqueducts, walls, etc.
Physical Features: streams, lakes, cliffs, contours
Point Symbols
Type Styles
Scale bar and Elevation Tints

Purcell, N. Latium-Campania (1:500,000) [map] . In: Richard J.A. Talbert. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000

Map 2:
Map of Mt. Vesuvius and Surroundings, 1:50,000
Legend

KOMPASS-Karten GmbH. Penisola Sorrentina [map]. 1:50,000. Carta Escursionistica Wanderkarte Series. Bolzano [Italy] : Kompass Fleischmann s.a.r.l., 2000.

More Resources on Mt. Vesuvius

Satellite image of Naples, showing Mt. Vesuvius.

Gazetteer Entry on Vesuvius
A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary. The entry on Vesuvius below, from the The Columbia Gazetteer of the World (G103.5C65 1998 v.3) , provides a concise geographical and historical overview of Mt. Vesuvius.

Vesuvius
(vuh-SOO-vee-uhs), Ital. Vesuvio, only active volcano On the Eur. Mainland, S Italy, on the E shore of the Bay of Naples, SE of Naples; 40° 49'N 14° 26' E. the ht. of the main cone changes with each eruption, varying within a few hundred feet of the 4,000-ft/1,219-m level; in 1969 the ht. was 4,190 ft/1,277 m.. The 2d summit, Monte Somma (3770 ft/1,149 m), is a ridge that half encircles the cone and is separated from it by a valley (c.3 mi/5 km long). The sides of Vesuvius are deeply scarred by lava flow, but its lower slopes are extremely fertile, dotted with villages, and covered with vineyards that produce the famous Lachryma Christi wine. The base of the mt. (circumference c.45 mi/70 km) is encircled by a RR, and a chairlift reaches almost to the rim of the crater (diameter c.2,300 ft/700 m). On the W slope, at 1,995 ft/608 m, there is a seismological observatory (built 1840-1845). The outline of Vesuvius forms part of the backdrop of Naples; it is often surmounted by a faint plume of smoke. The earliest recorded eruption (A.D. 79) was described by Pliny the Younger in 2 letters to Tacitus; the eruption buried Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae under cinders, ashes, and mud. Pliny the Elder was killed by the eruption, which he had come to investigate. Frequent eruptions have been recorded since then, notable in 512, in 1631, 6 times in the 18th cent., 8 times in the 19th cent. (notably in 1872), and in 1906, 1929, and 1944. The eruptions vary greatly in severity.

Cohen, Saul B., ed. The Columbia Gazetteer of the World, New York: Columbia University Press. 1998, 3342



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