Kaart van de hoge heerlijkheid Oosterland 1629

This is a map of Oosterland, though we don’t know when it was made, or by whom. The process is age-old: ink applied to paper, one line at a time. But it’s not the materials that give this image its impact; it's the way they're deployed, with such rigorous accuracy. The map records a landscape fully given over to production. Every parcel of land is measured and accounted for, with the names of landowners carefully inscribed. This wasn't just about wayfinding; it was about control, the transformation of territory into a source of revenue. The map is a visualization of social power. It represents the meticulous division of land, and thus, the division of labor. It’s a reminder that even something as seemingly neutral as a map can be a tool of economic and social ordering, reflecting and reinforcing the structures of its time.