Since their very first origin maps responded to 2 different needs:
1) The representation of the world and distant lands. In this case the maps reflect the geographical knowledge of a community and its own conception of the world (cosmology).
2) The representation of the space where a community live and, in this case, the map has a practical function (help in moving, classification of land and borders and so on..)
The cards of the islanders of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, were unique in the history of cartography, made of palm fibers joined together by strands of coconut palm, so as to point in many different directions.
The first maps were sketched on animal skins, carved on clay tablets,
wood or leather or papyrus, and showed landmarks important to hunters or traders.
(earlier than 1000 B.C.)Earliest direct evidence of mapping comes from the middle east. These ancient Babylonian clay tablets depict the earth as a flat circular disk.
