| The principles of land surveying date back almost | | | | Thorough and precise, they were known for |
| as far as the idea of land ownership. Ever since | | | | creating impeccably straight lines and right angles |
| ancient man determined that one piece of land | | | | using simple tools. After measuring these lines, |
| would belong to one group, and the other piece to | | | | they would dig a shallow ditch to represent the |
| another group, there was a need to mediate | | | | lines. Amazingly, some of these ditches still exist |
| between land disputes. This is where land | | | | to the present day. |
| surveying came in, although today surveys are | | | | In eleventh century England, William the Conqueror |
| also used for many other purposes. | | | | wrote his now-famous Domesday Book. This |
| Since then, every major civilization in the history | | | | book, covering all of England, meticulously covered |
| of the world has used some type of land | | | | the names of all land owners, the quality and |
| surveying, although they have certainly become | | | | amount of this land, and information on the people |
| more sophisticated over the years both with | | | | and resources in each area. Although the amount |
| changing laws and improved technologies. Today, | | | | of information contained in this book was quite |
| GPS and other technologies allow for a much | | | | impressive, this was not a technical survey, and |
| more exact survey than was possible just a few | | | | the maps were not drawn to scale and were not |
| short decades ago. As you can imagine, ancient | | | | very accurate. |
| maps and land surveys were even less accurate. | | | | Napoleon Bonaparte was the first to mandate a |
| One of the first examples of a land survey using | | | | cadastre, in 1808. At times, Napoleon even |
| mathematical means was in ancient Egypt. The | | | | thought that the cadastre would be his greatest |
| Great Pyramid, built around 2700 BC at Giza, | | | | contribution to civil law. The cadastre is a |
| demonstrates Egyptians' knowledge of surveying | | | | thorough register of the property in a given |
| techniques. Ancient Egyptians also redrew | | | | county. The information it contains includes |
| boundary lines using basic geometry after the Nile | | | | ownership details, location (as precisely measured |
| River flooded the plains. An Egyptian land register | | | | as possible given then-current technology), and as |
| existed as early as 3000 BC, or five thousand | | | | much information about the value and usage of |
| years ago, to record the owners of various | | | | the land as was available. This cadastre included |
| pieces of land and their locations. These early | | | | scale maps at both 1:2500 and 1:1250. Cadastre |
| surveying efforts by the Egyptians were years | | | | use spread quickly, and indeed it was the origin of |
| ahead of other civilizations, as was true in many | | | | today's cadastral surveys. However, it was |
| other areas of Egyptian technology as well. These | | | | difficult to make a cadastre in rural areas or those |
| surveys were based on geometry as well as | | | | where land was in dispute. |
| simple declarations that they believed these | | | | Today's surveys are much more accurate than |
| boundaries to be correct. | | | | those done in decades or centuries past thanks to |
| In the Roman Empire., the Romans actually | | | | sophisticated means for measuring and recording |
| established 'land surveyor' as an official position. | | | | boundaries and land features. There are many |
| They were called agrimensores. Texts describing | | | | more applications of land surveys than simply |
| their actions date back to the first century AD. | | | | recording land ownership. |