Since someone mentioned medieval maps:
I learned that Venetian explorers & merchants used to sail along the coasts of Mediterranean, the Black Sea and European atlantic coast, and measure and draw the different coastlines. This was during the late medieval period.
I think I saw a copy of a Venetian map from the 16th century in a history book, and it was very accurate, and had plenty of similiarites to any modern day map, at least at the coastlines.
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