Origins of Land Surveying

The principles of land surveying date back almost as far as the idea of land ownership. Since ancient man determined that certain piece of land would belong to one group, and another piece to another group, there was a have to mediate between land disputes. This is where land surveying came in, although today surveys are also used for a great many other purposes.

Since that time, every major civilization in the annals of the planet has used some type of land surveying, although they have certainly become more sophisticated over the years both with changing laws and improved technologies. Today, GPS and other technologies allow for a much more exact survey than was possible only a few short decades ago. Obviously, ancient maps and land surveys were even less accurate.

Among the first types of a land survey using mathematical means was in ancient Egypt. THE FANTASTIC Pyramid, built around 2700 BC at Giza, demonstrates Egyptians' knowledge of surveying techniques. Ancient Egyptians also redrew boundary lines using basic geometry following the Nile River flooded the plains. An Egyptian land register existed as soon as 3000 BC, or five thousand years ago, to record the owners of various pieces of land and their locations. These early surveying efforts by the Egyptians were years before other civilizations, as was true in many other areas of Egyptian technology aswell. These surveys were based on geometry together with simple declarations they believed these boundaries to be correct.

In the Roman Empire., the Romans actually established 'land surveyor' being an official position. They were called agrimensores. Texts describing their actions date back to the first century AD. Thorough and precise, these were known for creating impeccably straight lines and right angles using simple tools. After measuring these lines, they might dig a shallow ditch to represent the lines. Amazingly, some of these ditches still exist to the present day.

In eleventh century England, William the Conqueror wrote his now-famous Domesday Book. This book, covering most of England, meticulously covered the names of most land owners, the product quality and quantity of this land, and home elevators individuals and resources in each area. Although the amount of information within this book was quite impressive, this was not a technical survey, and the maps were not drawn to scale and were not very accurate.

Napoleon Bonaparte was the first to mandate a cadastre, in 1808. Sometimes,  Land Surveyors Cheltenham  thought that the cadastre would be his greatest contribution to civil law. The cadastre is really a thorough register of the house in confirmed county. The information it contains includes ownership details, location (as precisely measured as possible given then-current technology), so when much information about the worthiness and using the land as was available. This cadastre included scale maps at both 1:2500 and 1:1250. Cadastre use spread quickly, and even it was the foundation of today's cadastral surveys. However, it was difficult to produce a cadastre in rural areas or those where land was in dispute.

Today's surveys are a lot more accurate than those done in decades or centuries past thanks to sophisticated means for measuring and recording boundaries and land features. There are various more applications of land surveys than simply recording land ownership