Charting Australia: The National Library's vast cartographical collection is full of surprises.

摘要

THE MOST INTRIGUING item in the National Library of Australia's (NLA) vast map collection isn't one of their ancient globes, or charts of the new world drawn on animal skin. It's a siltstone tablet about the size of your hand, etched with concentric lines and thought to have represented the world to the Kimberley's indigenous people. "Not much is known about its origins, purpose or age," says Dr Martin Woods, the curator of maps for the NLA, in Canberra. "The library has been the custodian of the stone since it was handed to us for safekeeping in the 1970s."