What are maps commonly made from?

[Sarithus]

Greetings. Apologies if this isn't in the right section.

When creating my first map I wasn't sure what I wanted the material to be, and that's because I'm not entirely sure what material maps can be made from. I guess I tried to go for a cloth type of map as I used slight linen textures and made soft creases that aren't very much like fold-able 'paper' maps. I'm also not too sure how realistic the texture I chose is with the blue shade for the water. I mean, should that colour which I'm guessing would have got there from some sort of dye be on that material?

What are maps commonly made from? Any advice?

[wdmartin]

This should probably be in either General Discussion or General and Miscellaneous Mapping -- the mapping elements forum is for posting resources like brushes, textures, and pre-made objects for battlemaps.

If you're thinking medieval European, most of them were made on either vellum (calf skin) or parchment (sheep skin), which was not tanned but stretched taught and scraped thin. Even larger and more intricate ones (like the 13th c Hereford mappa mundi, which is on vellum despite being large enough to function as a wall hanging). There were definitely map mosaics made, especially in cities around the Mediterranean basin where mosaics were a somewhat more common decorative scheme due to Roman influence.

Paper was too expensive till late (15th or 16th c). And though I've never heard of a fabric map from the European middle ages, it wouldn't surprise me too much to find a tapestry or similar with a map on it. Probably lots of other things, too. Maps painted on stone or wood. Or carved into the same. I saw a picture of a very early (Ptolemaic era) Egyptian map on papyrus once. So, people likely used whatever materials were available to them.

[Midgardsormr]

There was a post a couple of years back about a map that was made of a piece of carved wood. The edges were carved to resemble the shapes of the coastline. I think it was an Inuit or Umiaq artifact, but I'm not certain about that. I have a map of the Philippines hanging on my wall that was painted on coarse burlap. It is unfortunately almost illegible, though, because my Grandfather had it hanging in the sunlight for a few decades.