A treasure map is a variation of a map to mark the location of burie treasure, a lost mine, a valuable secret or a hidden locale . More common in fiction than in reality, "Pirate treasure maps" are often depicted in works of fiction as hand drawn and containing arcane clues for the characters to follow. Regardless of the term's literary use, anything that meets the criteria of a "map" describing the location of a "treasure" could appropriately be called a treasure map.