New Light on the Medieval Gough Map of Britain

Delano‐Smith, Catherine; Barber, Peter; Bove, Damien; Clarkson, Christopher; Harvey, P. D. A.; Millea, Nick; Saul, Nigel; Shannon, William Henry; Whittick, Christopher; Willoughby, James

doi:10.1080/03085694.2017.1242838

Cited by 18 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The Gough Map, a mid-fourteenth century map of Britain, [1][2][3][4] is the earliest surviving map of the island in geographically recognizable form. Previous research based on the visible features of the map revealed that this map was extensively revised after its original creation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hyperspectral analysis of cultural heritage artifacts: pigment material diversity in the Gough Map of Britain

2017

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The Gough Map, one of the earliest surviving maps of Britain, was created and extensively revised over the 13th and 14th centuries. In 2015, map was imaged using a hyperspectral imaging system while in the collection at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University. The goal of the collection of the hyperspectral image (HSI) of the Gough Map was to address questions such as enhancement of faded text for reading and analysis of the pigments used during its creation and revision. In particular, pigment analysis of the Gough Map may help historians understand the material diversity of its composition and potentially the timeline of, and methods used in, the creation and revision of the map. Multiple analysis methods are presented to analyze a particular pigment in the Gough Map with an emphasis on understanding the within-material diversity, i.e., the number and spatial layout of distinct red pigments. One approach to understanding the number of distinct materials in a scene (i.e., endmember selection and dimensionality estimation) is the Gram Matrix approach. Here, this method is used to study the within-material differences of pigments in the map with common visual color. The application is a pigment analysis tool that extracts visually common pixels (here the red pigments) from the Gough Map and estimates the within material diversity of the pixels. Results show that the Gough Map is composed of at least 5 kinds of dominant red pigments with a particular spatial pattern. This research provides a useful tool for historical geographers and cartographic historians to analyze the material diversity of hyperspectral images of cultural heritage artifacts.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hyperspectral analysis of cultural heritage artifacts: pigment material diversity in the Gough Map of Britain

2017

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“…The Gough Map was created in the 15th century. [1][2][3][4] It is one of the earliest surviving maps of Britain in geographically recognizable form. The substrate of the map is a combination of lamb skin and sheepskin and in this map, there are more than 600 towns indicated in red signs, a depiction of waterways indicated in green, and distances between the towns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The substrate of the map is a combination of lamb skin and sheepskin and in this map, there are more than 600 towns indicated in red signs, a depiction of waterways indicated in green, and distances between the towns. [1][2][3] Previous research revealed that this map was revised after it was created. 1,3 According to Delano-Smith, et al (2017), the map was created in three different layers during three different periods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[1][2][3] Previous research revealed that this map was revised after it was created. 1,3 According to Delano-Smith, et al (2017), the map was created in three different layers during three different periods. After its creation, there are two revision steps.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though the map appears to have been revised over approximately 100 years, evidence of similar signs and symbols shows that in each step similar pigments and methods were utilized to create and update the map. 3 Questions about the map arise such as faded text enhancement for reading and pigment analysis for estimation of material diversity in the Gough Map. In an effort to answer such questions, hyperspectral images (HSI) of the map were collected at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University in 2015.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A pigment analysis tool for hyperspectral images of cultural heritage artifacts

2017

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The Gough Map, in the collection at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, is one of the earliest surviving maps of Britain. Previous research deemed that it was likely created over the 15th century and afterwards it was extensively revised more than once. In 2015, the Gough Map was imaged using a hyperspectral imaging system at the Bodleian Library. The collection of the hyperspectral image (HSI) data was aimed at faded text enhancement for reading and pigment analysis for the material diversity of its composition and potentially the timeline of its creation. In this research, we introduce several methods to analyze the green pigments in the Gough Map, especially the number and spatial distribution of distinct green pigments. One approach, called the Gram Matrix, has been used to estimate the material diversity in a scene (i.e., endmember selection and dimensionality estimation). Here, we use the Gram Matrix technique to study the within-material differences of pigments in the Gough map with common visual color. We develop a pigment analysis tool that extracts visually common pixels, green pigments in this case, from the Gough Map and estimates its material diversity. It reveals that the Gough Map consists of at least six kinds of dominant green pigments. Both historical geographers and cartographic historians will benefit from this work to analyze the pigment diversity using HSI of cultural heritage artifacts.

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