Ancient Polynesians used maps to navigate around the vastness of the Pacific.
Without a written language, they instead utilised local materials to pass on information.
**The Shells** indicate islands or island groups.
**The Sticks** show Ocean Swells and their direction. (Swells change direction as they pass islands)
Even-System-934 on
marshallese stick charts are wild, basically ocean swells turned into a diagram.
BluishHope on
Ok that’s sick once you know how to read it.
kismet-FG on
Museum in Chicago has some of these…..High Tech meets Low Tech…..so much useful knowledge and as substantial as a grass placemat
dontthinkthatway on
How do they orient the map? Likely didn’t have compasses? Did they have an equivalent of north?
juckrebel on
For those interested and not shy of picking up a book, „This way up“ by the Map Men has a chapter dedicated to these charts and how they are used. Specifically, it’s about Marshall island stick charts. Well worth a read.
chimugukuru on
This one is Micronesian not Polynesian.
Xitztlacayotl on
What about the distances though?
sebvhe on
I was in Majuro in the Marshalls (as far as I know Marshallese were the only ones to use these maps) a few months ago and there is a small free museum there where they displayed these stick maps.
It also stated that some people still knew how to read these maps (you would memorise them, not take them on the trip) and a handful could still navigate with these techniques.
What was unanswered was when was that information sign I read made and whether these people had since then all passed…
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Ancient Polynesians used maps to navigate around the vastness of the Pacific.
Without a written language, they instead utilised local materials to pass on information.
**The Shells** indicate islands or island groups.
**The Sticks** show Ocean Swells and their direction. (Swells change direction as they pass islands)
marshallese stick charts are wild, basically ocean swells turned into a diagram.
Ok that’s sick once you know how to read it.
Museum in Chicago has some of these…..High Tech meets Low Tech…..so much useful knowledge and as substantial as a grass placemat
How do they orient the map? Likely didn’t have compasses? Did they have an equivalent of north?
For those interested and not shy of picking up a book, „This way up“ by the Map Men has a chapter dedicated to these charts and how they are used. Specifically, it’s about Marshall island stick charts. Well worth a read.
This one is Micronesian not Polynesian.
What about the distances though?
I was in Majuro in the Marshalls (as far as I know Marshallese were the only ones to use these maps) a few months ago and there is a small free museum there where they displayed these stick maps.
It also stated that some people still knew how to read these maps (you would memorise them, not take them on the trip) and a handful could still navigate with these techniques.
What was unanswered was when was that information sign I read made and whether these people had since then all passed…