Application of cartographic materials of the late XIX - early XX century to characterize the development of the settlement network of Tomsk county of Tomsk province

In our work, the settlement chain will be understood as the totality of all rural settlements of the Tomsk province (uyezd), characterized by a general administrative position, having a different level of population, heterogeneity of structure, typological category, functioning in geographic and socioeconomic terms in interconnection with each other. The main aim of this research is to reveal the features of using maps in the study of the settlement chain of the Tomsk uyezd and Tomsk province. The map is the main basis of the cartographic method in historical research and is a unique historical source containing significant amount of information expressed in a compact and clear graphic form. In this research, the importance of the old map as a historical monument of cartography became evident, reflecting the level of development of cartographic science and technology during the corresponding period, through the analysis of which it becomes possible to trace the processes of settlement in the sampled area. The use of cartographic materials while taking due account of Tomsk district population in the late 19^th - early 20^th centuries is primarily resulted from the need to compare statistical and cartographic sources. Despite the detailed information about the settlements, the lists of settlements places, memorable books and surveys within the framework of the study of demographic processes do not give a complete picture of how the territory of a particular district (volost) has changed over time, and based on this, it becomes necessary to study the distribution of the population with using cartographic materials. In addition, the maps provide more informative. Because of the notation keys, for example, it is possible to determine how the land fund was distributed between different categories of the population or to identify the objects of socioeconomic infrastructure located in a particular district (volost). The article analyses in chronological order those maps that can be used in the research of the settlement chain of the Tomsk county with a description of the technology of their application in the construction of cartographic models. In this way, it can be stated, that the use of cartographic materials in the study of the settlement chain opens up new opportunities for observing the principle of territoriality. Administrative and thematic maps make it possible to represent visually the processes of land’s fund development of the Tomsk uyezd. Moreover, the using of cartographic and statistical sources together gives the prospect for more accurate determination of the location of settlements and their socioeconomic development. The use of cartographic materials of different time periods and thematic orientation, as well as the territory’s scale reflection, makes it possible to take a fresh look at the development of the settlement chain not only of the Tomsk uyezd, but also of the entire Tomsk province in general.

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