2026-10-06T20:19:03Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34057578 2026-10-02T17:59:51Z category_7 category_272 category_39 category_45 category_811 category_106 portal_87 item_type_3 month_year_10_2026

The Persistence of a Phantom: A Geospatial and Multi-temporal Investigation of Mayda Island (1367–1914) Federico Vessella (25303149) Medicine Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Sociology Mathematical Sciences not elsewhere classified Science Policy Phantom islands Mayda historical cartography geostatistics time-series analysis <p>Since the dawn of cartography, mapmakers have experienced the need to give myths and legends a real space by locating them within maps. The Great Ocean, which comprised the known world until the end of the Middle Ages, and the remote lands at the edge of the world, were the best places to locate imaginary places. Mayda island is not the most famous, but it is the oldest with about 500 years of history. This paper aims to investigate the position of Mayda through a geospatial and multitemporal analysis. A hundred papers and documents have been examined to understand how the myth and increasingly scientific knowledge of our world has coexisted over the centuries. Mayda could serve as a case study to investigate, using a geostatistical approach, the approach of cartographers and navigators in the history of cartography.</p> <p>Key policy highlights</p><p>The history of cartography is full of reports about legendary places, ephemeral lands and phantom islands perceived as real because they appear on maps.</p><p>Geostatistical analysis can contribute to the history of cartography as an additional method to better understand the origin and evolution of these ‘bizarre’ geographical elements.</p><p>To make geostatistics effective in this field of study, it is imperative to continue investing in the digitization of the world's cartographic heritage, possibly through public and open source platforms, to reach the widest possible readership.</p><p></p> <p>The history of cartography is full of reports about legendary places, ephemeral lands and phantom islands perceived as real because they appear on maps.</p> <p>Geostatistical analysis can contribute to the history of cartography as an additional method to better understand the origin and evolution of these ‘bizarre’ geographical elements.</p> <p>To make geostatistics effective in this field of study, it is imperative to continue investing in the digitization of the world's cartographic heritage, possibly through public and open source platforms, to reach the widest possible readership.</p> 2026-10-02T17:59:51Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.34057578.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/The_Persistence_of_a_Phantom_A_Geospatial_and_Multi-temporal_Investigation_of_Mayda_Island_1367_1914_/34057578 CC BY 4.0