The European Digital Archive on Soil Maps of the World has taken it upon itself to scan and make available soil maps from around the world. According to the site, “less and less new, fundamental soil data are being produced these days; the older data and information are being pumped around more and more. Therefore it is vital to preserve the older data (in this case maps) as they are building blocks of most current soil information. The user of present-day, derived information should have easy access to the source material, if only to assess the reliability of the derived material. ”

To that end, the site hosts more than 3,000 scanned maps, many of which (but not all) are soils maps. Maps are available for all parts of the world - most countries seem represented - and are available in large jpeg files which are best saved (rather than viewing them through a web browser). The site seems to work best with Internet Explorer. A worthwhile treasure trove of maps.