Of Old Maps and Dreaming!
- A Crazy Little Bird Told Me
- Nov 8, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Nov 9, 2025
I feel I should start with a disclaimer. I admit that this article might be going down multiple rabbit holes, that might or might not appear connected, while involving some level of subjectivity.
It all started with a couple of documentaries that cited old medieval maps, based on even older maps destroyed since, one of them seemingly revealing Antarctica was known centuries before its modern discovery. That obviously got me to “when did people start making map?” followed by “I don’t know much about the Arctic or Antarctica”, and "is that strangely shaped drawing really Antarctica?".
Finally, and before you read any further, while some of the facts below are commonly accepted, some information remains subjective and controversial. The goal of this article is not to convince you or establish truths or impose meanings. It is about the “what ifs” and the “what a fascinating alternative” that are behind those theories, and the fact that after all we don’t know as much as we think we do about the lives of people who lived thousands or hundreds of years ago.
It is not because monks or kings or philosophers didn’t document something (or nowadays post a video on social media!) that it didn’t happen; the world is filled with extraordinary people doing ordinary things, and ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and everything in between really!
Why don’t we start with a bit of history (I know, shocking really!) and talk about the oldest known map of the world?
To this date, that prize goes to a Babylonian document dating from the 6th century BCE and known as the Imago Mundi (I am going to go on a limb and assume it translates to “picture of the world”).
The map divides the world in regions, using beautiful allegories, based on the 5 descriptions that have survived: “where the winged bird ends not his flight"; “where the light is brighter than that of sunset or stars"; a land "where one sees nothing", and "the sun is not visible"; "where a horned bull dwells and attacks the newcomer"; "where the morning dawns". That doesn’t tell me much personally, as I am poetry-challenged, but it still reads pretty!
To provide some context, the oldest known map is the Saint-Bélec slab, a three-dimensional representation of the River Odet valley discovered in 1900 by Paul du Châtellier, in Finistère, France, dated to between 1900 BCE and 1640 BCE, .
First, yay France, second, makes you wonder how people got around. Go to the second mountain on the right, turn left at the third rock by the river and walk till you see the big oak tree with the two wonky branches? Have I have gotten too dependent on google map and other apps ensuring that orientation challenged people (me) get to their destination? Somewhat puzzled and intrigued here!
Let's switch gear a little though to talk about the Arctic and Antarctica. Have faith, there is some logic behind the madness.
The Arctic first!
What is the Arctic really? Well, it is the polar region surrounding the North Pole. I know, am I not just little miss obvious!
The term comes from the ancient Greek “árktos” meaning bear. Did you know there are no polar bears in Antarctica?! Sorry, rabbit hole for another day, moving on.
As I tried to understand when the Arctic was discovered, I realised that technically it wasn’t, or at least not in recent times.
Historical records suggest that humankind have explored the northern extremes as early as 325 BC, when the ancient Greek sailor Pytheas reached a frozen sea. Some people have challenged the validity of Pytheas tales, but he might just have made it! From there, Naddodd, a Norse Viking credited with the discovery of Iceland in the 9th century and who was also one of the earliest Viking settlers in the Faroe Islands, is said to have encountered Iceland when he lost his route due to harsh conditions when sailing from Norway to the Faroe Islands in the 860s (he certainly was a busy man!!). And on and on it goes. So, you got it, explorers explored, whether they got lost or got there on purpose. Sometimes dumb luck is all you need.
However, the history of the Arctic is more than just exploration. The earliest inhabitants in the area are dated circa 2,500 BCE, with what is known as the Arctic Small Tool tradition. That population was then followed by the Dorset culture (1050–550 BCE to circa 1500 CE), the Thule culture (from 9th/10th century CE) and finally, by 1300 CE, the Inuit, descendants of Thule culture, who settled in west Greenland, and slowly migrated throughout the Arctic region.
What does this all mean for the purpose of this article, will you ask? Simply put, the Arctic was well documented and known early on, hence it was shown or referred to on maps and writings, hence no surprise here! I didn’t feel I could talk about Antarctica without talking about the Arctic you see, so we had to go through this.
Going on a small tangent, the Arctic is the land of bears, and more specifically the land of polar bears. Following recent climate changes, the territories of grizzly bears, brown bears and polar bears are starting to mingle, and so do they. Grizzly–polar-bear hybrids, also named grolar bear, pizzly bear, zebra bear, grizzlar, or nanulak, have been sighted and at least one confirmed with DNA testing in the Canadian Arctic region. Just for the sake of clarity, I would like to emphasise that those hybrids are not any fluffier or cuddlier than the pure breed. If you see one, play possum and pray... ideally don't venture in places where they live!
Now, what about Antarctica?
The antique terminology for Antarctica was Terra Australis Incognita ("Unknown Southern Land"), which then evolved into its current name when Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew popularized it in the 1890s. The modern name comes from the Middle French antartique or antarctique ('opposite to the Arctic'). They didn’t work too hard on that one, did they?
I would like to add a wild thought here. Considering Arctic means bear, could Antarctica also mean the opposite of bears? I am not saying my suggestion is smart, just putting it out there. After all there are no bears down south! However, it was also the land of seals, which in Greek would be phṓkē… yes, I can see how the pronunciation in English would be problematic… ignore me!
Back to the topic at hand. Antarctica has no indigenous population. A human free land … it almost sounds like heaven, if you forget about the extreme cold weather!
The existence of Terra Australis Incognita was confirmed in the 15th and 16th centuries when explorers rounded the Cape of Good Hope and the Cape Horn, getting closer and closer to it. However, humans had to wait a little bit longer to get to it, with Nathaniel Palmer being the first to actually sight Antarctica on November 17, 1820. The first landing, over a year later, is credited to English-born American Captain John Davis, a sealer. The first to reach the South Pole was Norwegian Roald Amundsen on December 14, 1911, the winner of a race against Briton Robert Falcon Scott.
Men and explorations... it is like catnip to them, isn't it? That being said, there must be women explorers out there too; maybe an article for later!
Another little tangent, and potential “what if”, some authors have suggested that a figure in Polynesians oral tradition from Rarotonga, Hui Te Rangiora and his crew explored the Antarctic waters in the early seventh century on the vessel Te Ivi o Atea. Now, this interpretation has been disputed, as is expected. I can see how this seems farfetched. On the other hand, let’s imagine that Rarotonga made it there, would there be any trace left to prove it? Does that mean that it is impossible? A bit like the Vikings making it to Canada, which was only confirmed in 2021, after decades of denial. Not judging, just saying!
As a last little gem of random knowledge, the exploration of the southern hemisphere only began in the early 15th century, and it wasn’t until 1473 that Portuguese navigator Lopes Gonçalves proved that the equator could be crossed. All in all, in human history, pretty recent!
Back to maps, and how Antarctica fit into my map rabbit hole.
Well, while people deducted early on that there was probably a continent in the southern part of the hemisphere, it was only confirmed in the 19th century.
However, there is a map drawn in 1513 by Ottoman Turkish admiral and cartographer Piri Reis (hence the name of Piris Reis map… they didn’t get creative on that one either), that seems to show a continent on the southern part of the world. This map might have been based on more ancient maps that were lost to time. Some experts (and non-experts) have since claimed that this was evidence that Terra Australis Incognita was known in ancient times, with some people going as far as saying that this the proof of a prior great (and yet unknown) civilisation. Once again, those are “intriguing” point of views, and they might or might not be factually correct. For the time being they are merely interpretations.
To summarise this long winded and messy article, people have been making maps for quite some time, even though it doesn’t seem to be as old as writing itself. Most of the first maps were lost to history. Some were copied, or used to inspire new maps throughout the centuries, particularly during the Middle Ages and the age of exploration in the 15th century.
Being ignorant in historical maps myself, I find it both fascinating and intriguing that somebody can look at an old map that doesn’t look anything like what we have today and identify what odd shape corresponds to which geographical area. I suppose it is like art in a way, you either see it, or you don’t!
Bottom line, even with all the science, anthropology, history, archaeology and so on, there is still a fair amount that can be left to interpretation, and satisfy people like me with a “what if” dream!
If you’re left staring, somewhat confused, wondering why exactly you read this article, as really there isn’t anything that is going to revolutionised your life, well I got nothing for you except the very child-like joy of sharing random facts and beliefs!
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