Preventing False Memories and Revitalizing Collective Memory with the Help of Historical Cartographic Materials and GIS: An Examination of the Lost Piers of Mersin

ABSTRACT

Piers are vital elements in the formation of collective memory in Mediterranean port cities and they played an important role in Mersin's urban life until the 1950s. Although there are some oral history-based studies attempting to spatialize them, they lack any measure of accuracy and reliability, and carry the risk of leading to false memories. In this context, the aim of this paper is to illustrate that collective memory can be properly reconstructed by using historical maps only if appropriate methods of analysis and reliable maps are used. In this study, which is based on various historical maps of Mersin city, the locations of the lost piers have been determined by using georeferencing tools available in QGIS. The study reveals that the tendency to construct false memories could be prevented by using reliable maps and appropriate tools in GIS in combination with the archive records.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban history
• historical maps
• cultural heritage
• georeferencing
• GIS
• Turkey

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this manuscript in draft was presented at the seventh International Conference on Cartography & GIS (7 ICC&GIS 2018) held by the Bulgarian Cartographic Association in Sozopol, Bulgaria (18th-23rd June, 2018). The authors would like to acknowledge the participants who made insightful comments and suggestions at the presentation. They are also grateful to anonymous referees for their useful comments, suggestions and constructive critiques. This work received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Burak Beyhan

Burak Beyhan is a Professor at the Department of City and Regional Planning, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University. He received his degrees (Bachelor of City Planning - BCP, Master of Regional Planning – MRP, and Doctor of Philosophy – PhD) in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Middle East Technical University, in Ankara, Turkey. His main research interests are in the areas of urban and regional planning, regional development and innovation systems, geographic information systems (GIS) in planning, and urban and planning history in Turkey.

Mehtap Çelik

Mehtap Çelik is an Assistant Professor at the Department of History, Mersin University. She received her Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) and Master of Science (MSc) degrees in the Department of History, Ankara University, in Ankara, Turkey, and received her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the Department of History, Mersin University, Mersin, Turkey. Her main research interests are in the areas of Ottoman history, and the evolution of financial and institutional system of the Ottoman Empire between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.