Which group of explorers is credited with leading to the new era of cartography?

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Exploration expands geographic knowledge, which reshapes how maps are made. The group that best embodies this shift is Marco Polo, Columbus, and Magellan. Polo’s travels introduced Europeans to distant Asia and new lands, sparking curiosity and laying the groundwork for later mapping of unknown regions. Columbus’ voyages opened up the Americas to European view, providing new coastlines and routes that could be charted. Magellan’s circumnavigation demonstrated the world’s true scale and offered rich data on oceans, winds, currents, and geography. Together, these explorers moved cartography from relying on traditional authorities toward a global, data-driven practice that fundamentally changed mapmaking.

Other options don’t fit as well because they are either scholars who enhanced methods or single explorers who didn’t by themselves drive the broad, global expansion in maps.