the paper cartografia histórica e navegação virtual do centro do rio de janeiro (historic cartography and virtual tour of the center of rio de janeiro), by vanessa ferraz godoy of the universidade federal de minas gerais, alessandra ferraz godoy da silva of the universidade federal de minas gerais, and paulo márcio leal de menezes of the universidade federal do rio de janeiro is a precious source of antique maps of the city center.

published by the scientific electronic library online - scielo, this map from the bibiloteca national de paris (bibliothèque nationale de france) shows a map of rio dating back to 1523, complete with depictions of indigenous inhabitants, flora, and fauna.