▁important ▁human ▁invent ions ▁for ▁mill enn ia . ▁People ▁have ▁created ▁and ▁used ▁maps ▁to ▁help ▁them ▁define , ▁explain , ▁and ▁navigate ▁their ▁way ▁through ▁the ▁world . ▁Ear liest ▁arch ae ological ▁maps ▁include ▁cave ▁paint ings ▁to ▁ancient ▁maps ▁of ▁Bab yl on , ▁Greece , ▁China , ▁and ▁India . ▁They ▁began ▁as ▁two - dimensional ▁draw ings , ▁and ▁for ▁some ▁time ▁at ▁least ▁in ▁Europe , ▁the ▁Earth ▁was ▁thought ▁to ▁be ▁flat . ▁Now ad ays ▁maps ▁can ▁be ▁visual ized ▁adopted ▁as ▁three - dimensional ▁shapes ▁on ▁glob es . ▁Modern ▁maps ▁of ▁the ▁old ▁and ▁new ▁world s ▁developed ▁through ▁the ▁Age ▁of ▁Disc overy . ▁In ▁the ▁ 2 1 st ▁century , ▁with ▁the ▁advent ▁of ▁the ▁computing ▁age ▁and ▁information ▁age , ▁maps ▁can ▁now ▁be ▁digit ized ▁in ▁numerical ▁form , ▁transm itted ▁and ▁updated ▁easily ▁via ▁satellite ▁G PS ▁and ▁apps ▁like ▁Google ▁Maps , ▁and ▁used ▁univers ally ▁more ▁easily ▁than ▁ever ▁before . ▁ ▁== ▁Et ym ology ▁== ▁The ▁English ▁term ▁cart ography ▁is ▁modern , ▁borrow ed ▁from ▁the ▁French ▁cart ographie ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 8 4 0 s , ▁itself ▁based ▁on ▁Middle ▁Latin ▁cart a ▁" map ". ▁ ▁Ear liest ▁known ▁maps ▁ ▁The ▁earliest ▁known ▁maps ▁are ▁of ▁the ▁stars , ▁not ▁the ▁earth . ▁D ots ▁d ating ▁to ▁ 1 4 , 5 0 0 ▁BC ▁found ▁on ▁the ▁walls ▁of ▁the ▁L asc aux ▁c aves