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(postponed) The International Workshop On the Origin and Evolution of the Nautical Chart


Lisbon, Portugal
The International Workshop On the Origin and Evolution of the Nautical Chart will take place in 4-5 June 2020 (Thursday to Friday), at the Hydrographic Institute, in Lisbon, Portugal.
This will be the third Lisbon meeting dedicated to the History of Nautical Cartography. The first and second were held in 2016 and 2018, and were focused on the history of the medieval portolan chart. This time, the scope has been enlarged as to also include other periods and cartographic models.
The main objective of the workshop is to bring together researchers interested in the history of nautical cartography. In this third meeting the scope has been enlarged to include not only the genesis and evolution of the medieval portolan chart but also nautical charts in general. The proposed themes of the workshop are:
  • When, where, how and why the earliest nautical charts were constructed, and how they evolved over time;
  • The mutual influence between medieval portolan charts and traditional maps of European and non-European origin;
  • How the first latitude charts were constructed following the introduction of astronomical navigation, and how they evolved over time;
  • The use of pre-Mercator nautical charts at sea;
  • The role of multidisciplinary approaches to the research on old nautical charts: cartometric methods of analysis, numerical modelling, multispectral analysis, material characterization, carbon dating, etc;
  • Any other subject related to the history of nautical cartography, especially concerning pre-Mercator charts.
Venue: Hydrographic Institute, Rua das Trinas 49, 1249-093 Lisboa
Contact: Prof. Joaquim Alves Gaspar
URL: