The Problem of Cartographic Representation in Relation To the Polish Cultural Landscape

The problem of representing the Polish cultural landscape consists of two components. The first component is the choice of content. Wishing to define the breadth of the content of a cultural landscape map, one needs to remember that it is composed of two facets. The first facet, the material result of human activity, is easily discernable in the field and easily illustrated on a map. Elements included in this facet are: sacred and secular historical structures, the spatial layout of cities, archeological sites etc. The second facet of cultural landscape needs to be considered in immaterial terms. It is difficult to illustrate on a map, because its elements do not lend themselves to being topographically situated. One could mention, for example, religions, customs and traditions, a common historical past etc. Most often, one can only indirectly speculate about this facet of the cultural landscape, on the basis of the material characteristics of the cultural landscape.

The second problem related to presenting cultural landscape on a map is the choice of graphic form for the map. The problem is to a large extent tied to difficulties stemming from the necessity of maintaining semantic correctness (the relation between “symbol” and “object”). In practice, during the graphic editing of a map representing the cultural landscape, one should remember to: a) choose a scale suitable for the representation, upon which depend the degree of detail and the generalization of the content; b) correctly depict the variation boundaries, taking into account sharp and fuzzy boundaries; c) make a well-designed symbol key.