The ethnographic atlases of Poland. Prolegomena

Abstract

One of the ways in which various manifestations of traditional culture on vast territories can be studied and presented is showing them on maps and, subsequently, interpreting the presented scopes. The elaboration of an ethnographic map has certain requirements already at the stage of creating the questionnaire and field studies. The set of such requirements (including the taxonomy and chronology of the mapped elements of culture) is called a cartographic technique. The familiarization with this technique enables one to estimate the usefulness of maps for further research and for processing their contents. It can also help researchers who undertake the effort of preparing new maps. The ethnogeographic method makes it possible to draw conclusions concerning the origin of cultural features/elements on the basis of the configuration of their scopes. The interpretation of maps lead ethnologists both to the explanation how traditional culture originated and to the fact of Poland’s belonging to West-European cultural province and of its borderlands with North-Eastern and Carpathian provinces. In the territories of Poland, traditional culture has been reflected in several atlases – Atlas der deutschen Volkskunde, Atlas der Pommerschen Volkskunde, Atlas języka i kultury ludowej Wielkopolski, Polski atlas etnograficzny.