Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Will the land be 'under all' 5000 years from now?

An all-female surveying crew in Idaho in 1918
Ever wonder about the history of boundary surveys? Many deeds make reference to monuments and markers (such as iron rods, pipes, concrete posts) but some descriptions (especially in Maine) also refer to blazes in trees, piled stone corners, old stone walls, the tallest Pine tree in the field, and other perishable landmarks. I did a little research online and discovered that boundary surveying has been an essential element in the development of the human environment since the beginning of recorded history (ca. 5000 years ago)
According to articles posted online, in ancient Egypt when the Nile River overflowed its banks and washed out farm boundaries, boundaries were re-established through the application of simple geometry. The Egyptian command of ancient surveying is affirmed by the nearly perfect squareness and north-south orientation of the
Great Pyramid of Giza, built c. 2700 BC. More interesting information can be viewed on Wikipedia.
*Egyptians had a land register (3000 BC).
*Romans established a tax register of conquered lands (300 AD).
*In England,
Domesday Book by William the Conqueror (1086) contained names of the land owners, area, and and quality
*Continental Europe's
Cadastre (comprehensive register of real property) was created in 1808 (A cadastre loses its value if register and maps are not constantly updated.
Most recently, distance measurements can be fully robotic, and can even e-mail point data to the office computer and connect to
satellite positioning systems, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS).’Under All is the Land’ I cannot begin to imagine how it will be measured for future generations, 5000 years from now! REALTOR® gramEpat

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