Notes on the annals of Land Surveying

· 2 min read
Notes on the annals of Land Surveying

Land surveying is among the oldest professions in the world. Ever since man has decided that a portion of land should belong to a tribe, the need for surveying began.

Land surveying is fascinating. The methods used seek to choose which part of land belongs to whom, hopefully ending arguments once and for all.

In a nutshell, surveying is really a process using mathematical means to survey land.


The first accounts of surveying land goes back to ancient Egypt. Experts have discovered evidences that the ancient Egyptians used basic geometry to redraw the lines of boundary once the Nile River overflowed. An Egyptian land register dating back to to 3000 BC was also found.

Following a Egyptians, the Romans - also the most powerful civilizations of the ancient world - practiced land surveying. They took it one step further and made "land surveyor" the official position within the Empire.  3D Modelling Wirksworth  were called agrimensores, generally known as Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum. Although they used very easy tools, they were very thorough making use of their jobs and would create straight lines and correct angles with the use of these tools. Following the lines were measured, they would create shallow ditches to mark the lines. Actually, a number of the furrows they made still exist today.

Among the recorded land surveying of the "modern" times is that of William the Conqueror who wrote the Domesday Book in 1086. This book is actually a list of names of land owners, the volume of land they owned and other information regarding the land. While it was an amazing quantity of information during this time period, the bits of information were not 100% correct. The locations weren't accurate and the maps were not made to scale.

Among history's greatest icons was also a devoted surveyor - Napoleon Bonaparte. The fascination with surveying land was actually just something of his want to conquer the world. Napoleon Bonaparte founded a registry called the cadastre. This consists of a registry of properties of a county, ownership details, locations so when much information about the land's value. Yes, Napoleon Bonaparte can be viewed as a land surveyor - and an extremely smart man.

The techniques used for land surveying also have evolved on the centuries. A long time ago, people would use whatever may help them determine the distance from one point to another. This means using chains with links and even ropes. Of course, this didn't give accurate results but they didn't have the technology we've back then.

Today, land surveyors have the very best technologies to greatly help them with their job. There is GPS, or Global Positioning System, that is one of the most accurate technologies used today. Total stations are also essential to a land surveyor, which employs the use of an EDM or Electronic Distance Measurement device plus a theodolite which allows for more precise angle and distance measurements.