The principles of land surveying date back almost so far as the thought of land ownership. Ever since ancient man determined that one parcel would participate in one group, and another piece to another group, there is a need to mediate between land disputes. That's where land surveying came in, although today surveys may also be used for many other purposes.
Since then, every major civilization in the annals of the world has used some type of land surveying, although they have certainly become more sophisticated over the years both with changing laws and improved technologies. Today, GPS and other technologies allow for a more exact survey than was possible just a few short decades ago. Obviously, ancient maps and land surveys were even less accurate.

One of the first types of a land survey using mathematical means was in ancient Egypt. THE FANTASTIC Pyramid, built around 2700 BC at Giza, demonstrates Egyptians' understanding of surveying techniques. Ancient Egyptians also redrew boundary lines using basic geometry following the Nile River flooded the plains. An Egyptian land register existed as early as 3000 BC, or five thousand years ago, to record the owners of varied pieces of land and their locations. These early surveying efforts by the Egyptians were years ahead of other civilizations, as was true in many other areas of Egyptian technology as well. These surveys were predicated on geometry together with simple declarations that they believed these boundaries to be correct.
In the Roman Empire., the Romans actually established 'land surveyor' being an official position. https://brainrack.co/using-a-buyers-agent-what-you-need-to-know-before-your-next-home-purchase/ were called agrimensores. Texts describing their actions date back again to the initial century AD. Thorough and precise, they were known for creating impeccably straight lines and right angles using simple tools. After measuring these lines, they would dig a shallow ditch to represent the lines. Amazingly, some of these ditches still exist to the present day.
In eleventh century England, William the Conqueror wrote his now-famous Domesday Book. This book, covering most of England, meticulously covered the names of most land owners, the product quality and level of this land, and home elevators the people and resources in each area. Although the amount of information contained in this book was quite impressive, this is not a technical survey, and the maps weren't drawn to scale and weren't very accurate.
Napoleon Bonaparte was the first ever to mandate a cadastre, in 1808. Sometimes, Napoleon even thought that the cadastre will be his greatest contribution to civil law. The cadastre is really a thorough register of the property in confirmed county. The information it includes includes ownership details, location (as precisely measured as you possibly can given then-current technology), so when much information about the worthiness and using the land as was available. This cadastre included scale maps at both 1:2500 and 1:1250. Cadastre use spread quickly, and indeed it was the foundation of today's cadastral surveys. However, it was difficult to produce a cadastre in rural areas or those where land was in dispute.
Today's surveys are much more accurate than those done in decades or centuries past thanks to sophisticated means for measuring and recording boundaries and land features. There are plenty of more applications of land surveys than simply recording land ownership