diff --git a/hoot-core/src/main/cpp/hoot/core/elements/MapUtils.h b/hoot-core/src/main/cpp/hoot/core/elements/MapUtils.h
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/hoot-core/src/main/cpp/hoot/core/elements/MapUtils.h
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/*
+ * This file is part of Hootenanny.
+ *
+ * Hootenanny is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ * --------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * The following copyright notices are generated automatically. If you
+ * have a new notice to add, please use the format:
+ * " * @copyright Copyright ..."
+ * This will properly maintain the copyright information. DigitalGlobe
+ * copyrights will be updated automatically.
+ *
+ * @copyright Copyright (C) 2020 DigitalGlobe (http://www.digitalglobe.com/)
+ */
+
+#ifndef MAP_UTILS_H
+#define MAP_UTILS_H
+
+// Hoot
+#include <hoot/core/elements/OsmMap.h>
+#include <hoot/core/criterion/ElementCriterion.h>
+
+namespace hoot
+{
+
+/**
+ * Various utilities for working with maps that should be kept out of OsmMap to avoid circular
+ * dependencies
+ */
+class MapUtils
+{
+
+public:
+
+ /**
+ * Returns a subset of elements from a map filtered by a criterion
+ *
+ * @param map map to copy elements from
+ * @param filter filter to apply to the map
+ * @return a copied subset map
+ */
+ static OsmMapPtr getMapSubset(const ConstOsmMapPtr& map, const ElementCriterionPtr& filter);
+
+ /**
+ * Determines if a map contains only nodes that are not way nodes
+ *
+ * @param map the map to examine
+ * @return true if the map is made up of non-way node points only; false otherwise
+ * @todo probably duplicating CriterionUtils::constainSatisfyingElements
+ */
+ static bool mapIsPointsOnly(const OsmMapPtr& map);
+
+ /**
+ * Splits a map into two separate maps according to element status
+ *
+ * @param sourceMap the map to split
+ * @param unknown1Map the map to output with Unknown1 status
+ * @param unknown2Map the map to output with Unknown2 status
+ */
+ static void splitMapByStatus(OsmMapPtr& sourceMap, OsmMapPtr& unknown1Map,
+ OsmMapPtr& unknown2Map);
+};
+
+}
+
+#endif // MAP_UTILS_H