go on their quest. To illustrate, at various points in the story, how far the quest has progressed. To provide challenges or obstacles for the characters, such as riddles or puzzles. To provide conflict where, for example, evildoers attempt to capture the map from the protagonists. Robert Louis Stevenson popularized the treasure map idea in his novel Treasure Island, but he was not the first. Author James Fenimore Cooper's earlier 1849 novel The Sea Lions begins with the death of a sailor who left behind "two old, dirty and ragged charts", which lead to a seal-hunting paradise in the Antarctic and a location in the West Indies where pirates have buried treasure, a plot similar to Stevenson's tale. Film The treasure map served as a major plot device in movies: In the 1984 film Romancing the Stone, a romance writer sets off to Colombia to ransom her kidnapped sister, and soon finds herself in the middle of a dangerous adventure. In the 1985 film The Goonies, an old treasure map leads to the secret stash of a legendary 17th-century pirate. In the 1994 comedy City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold, a treasure map is made by criminals. In the 1995 film Waterworld, an extremely vague and cryptic treasure map has been tattooed on the back of the child character Enola. This map leads the characters to dry land, which in the context of the film, is a treasure. In the 2000 animated comedy The Road to El Dorado, the principal characters win a map to the lost city of gold. They discover the city, are mistaken for gods, then help hide the city from the outside world. In the 2004 film National Treasure, the discovery of a hidden treasure map starts a quest for a treasure dating to the Colonial era. In the 2007 film National Treasure: Book of Secrets, treasure hunter Benjamin Gates uses an old map to find the lost city of Cibola. See also Buried treasure Lost mines Montezuma's treasure Treasure Leprechauns References External links Map types Pirate treasure Treasure Archaeology in popular culture