España. Ministerio de Cultura. Archivo General de Indias. MP-Santo Domingo, Plano de las Inmediaciones del Pueblo de Santiago del Prado, Real de Minas de Cobre, 1767.
This local map of the pueblo Santiago del Prado (El Cobre) and its surrounding territory constitutes another type of map making common throughout the Spanish metropolis and the overseas empire. It is a land survey of the terrain surrounding a human settlement to determine the legal boundaries for land use and ownership that local jurisdiction. The measurements are done in relation to the center of the pueblo, here represented by the red lines emanating from that center as noted in the explanatory cartouche. The double character of El Cobre as a pueblo and as a Real de minas (royal mining jurisdiction) is suggested in the name of the location, a matter that created some entanglements throughout the 17th, 18th and part of the 19th century. The cartouche also notes that El Cobre falls within the greater jurisdiction of the capital Santiago de Cuba. The map includes topographical information such as mines (next to the pueblo), rivers, elevated terrain, vegetation, roads (dotted lines). It also locates a Sanctuary (to the Virgin of Charity), the parish church and a few houses that represent the village center. In the surrounding area only two private sugarmills are identified. It is an unremarkable working map that speaks to issues of settlement and colonization, land tenure and proprietary rights. There are no military interests linked to this map although there are state interests involved regarding the royal mining jurisdiction.
