The White Horse Press Full citation: Mathieu, Jon. The Third Dimension: A Comparative History of Mountains in the Modern Era. Translated by Katherine Brun. Cambridge: The White Horse Press, 2011. http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/3503. Rights: All rights reserved. © The White Horse Press 2011. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism or review, no part of this article may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publishers. For further information please see http://www.whpress.co.uk. The Third Dimension Jon Mathieu The ThirD DiMension A CoMpArATive hisTory of MounTAins in The MoDern erA translated by Katherine Brun The White horse press Copyright © Jon Mathieu originally published in German as Die dritte Dimension. Eine vergleichende Geschichte der Berge in der Neuzeit (Basel: schwabe verlag 2011) english translation published 2011 by The Whiteh orse press, 10 high street, Knapwell, Cambridge, CB23 4nr, uK set in 11 point Adobe Garamond pro printed by Antony rowe Ltd All rights reserved. except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism or review, no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system. British Library Cataloguing in publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library isBn 978-1-874267-67-6 Conn Te Ts List of plates, figures and Tables . .........................viii notes on the Author and Translator. x foreWorD ......................................... 1 1. The GLoBALisATion of perCepTion 1.1 1992: A Constitution for the Mountains . ............. 5 Agenda 21 and the Mountain Chapter. 6 Global History – Many Voices . ......................... 10 1.2 1492: expansion and Change in perception. 12 The Columbus Connection. 13 The panishS and English Questionnaires. 16 World Map Plus Mountain System. 20 1.3 Alexander von humboldt . ......................... 23 ‘Humboldtian Science’. 24 Wanted: The Highest Mountain . ....................... 27 Profiles and World Mountains . ......................... 30 1.4 scientific Departure. 33 Specialisation and Globalisation . ....................... 34 Jules Blache (1893–1970) . ........................... 37 Carl Troll (1899–1975) . ............................. 40 1.5 The politicisation of the environment. 42 Transitions to Organisation . ........................... 43 ‘A Global Priority’. 47 The egionsR Under Study. 49 pLATes .......................... between pages 50 and 51 vi 2. popuLATion AnD urBAnisATion 2.1 upland Demography . ............................. 51 Population Distribution . ............................. 52 Population Growth . ................................. 55 2.2 Asynchrony of settlement . ........................ 59 Old-Settled Lands: South America, Mediterranean . .......... 59 Conquest of the ‘Wilderness’: China and North America . ...... 62 Highlands and Lowlands. 66 2.3 urbanisation . .................................... 70 Towards Town. 70 Growth Factors. 74 Aloft: Lhasa . ...................................... 77 Big and Bigger: Mexico City . .......................... 78 2.4 Two Theories . 80 Increasing Disparities . ............................... 81 Interpretations Over the Course of Time. 82 Two Theories. 86 3. AGriCuLTure, fAMiLy, MoBiLiTy 3.1 Agriculture . ..................................... 88 Verticality and Seasonality. 88 New Plants and Animals. 92 Land Use Systems . .................................. 94 Obstacles to Development . ............................ 98 3.2 Animal husbandry. 101 Mountain Nomadism, Transhumance . .................. 103 Transition to Stall-feeding . ........................... 106 3.3 family and Mobility . ............................. 108 Spatial Organisation of Families . ...................... 109 Variability and Change of Families . .................... 111 vii Migration. 114 Relative Poverty. 117 4. CuLTurAL DiversiTy AnD MoDerniTy 4.1 Western Modernisation. 120 The nlightenmentE and Romanticism in Europe . ........... 121 The ‘Wilderness’ Movement in North America . ............ 124 Mountain Sacredness – the Emergence of an Idea . .......... 127 4.2 The spiritual empowerment of the Landscape . ....... 129 East Asia . ....................................... 129 High Asia. 132 ‘To the Most Holy Mountain in the World’. 135 Cultural Diversity. 137 4.3 north–south Conflict Community . ............... 140 Colonialism . ..................................... 140 Alpinism. 143 Tourism . ........................................ 147 2002: The nternationalI Year of the Mountains. 150 5. resuLTs AnD ouTLooK A Three-Dimensional World. 155 Major Ecosystems . ................................. 157 Towards Kamchatka . ............................... 158 BiBLioGrAphy .................................... 161 inDex . ........................................... 187 viii Ls fi i T o f Gures, TABLes AnD pLATes Figures 1. Single and Multiple Cropping Zones by Altitude in Karakoram (Gilgit), 1983 .................................................................................... 100 Tables 1. Major scientific Works pertaining to Mountains, 19th/20th Centuries............................................................................ 35 2. Continental and Global initiatives for the Mountains, 20th/21st Centuries ............................................................................ 45 3. Population Density By Altitude and Continent, 1958 (persons per km2) ....................................................................... 53 4. Major Cities By Altitude and Continent, 2000 ................................... 54 5. Estimated World population By Continent, 1500–2000 (in millions) . 57 6. Urbanisation of Mountain regions and surrounding Areas on Three Continents, 1500–2000 ...................................................................... 57 7. Population of Cities in early Modern europe and China by Altitude (Based on Different Criteria ine ach region) ...................................... 75 8. Development of the olympic Winter Games, 1924–2006 ............... 149 Plates (between pages 50 and 51) 1. regions under study: Mountain areas specifically examined in this book 2. Countries of the World with Mountain percentages: Map from 2002 3. Altitude-specificv egetation in Three Climate Zones: illustration from 1817 ix 4. ‘heights of the old and new World, An illustrated Comparison’: Drawing from 1813 5. summits of the World as a Mountain island: illustration from 1875 6. Miao Warriors in Guizhou, south China: illustration from the nineteenth century 7. Cherokee indians on the Qualla reservation in Appalachia, 1888 8. The potala palace in Lhasa: illustration from 1667 9. Tenochtitlán, Later Mexico City: view from 1617 10. potato Cultivation in the Andes: illustration from 1615 11. field Cultivation in the highlands of ethiopia, 1852 12. ‘Wild haymaking’ in the Alps: Dramatised engraving from 1862 13. The rocky Mountains with Lander’s peak: oil painting by Albert Bierstadt, 1863 14. ‘image of the True form of the five peaks’: Chinese inscription, circa 1614 15. ‘To the Most holy Mountain in the World’ by herbert Tichy: Cover illustration from the 1953 reprint 16. international year of the Mountains 2002: ‘Celebrating Mountain Women’ NOsn Te o The AuThor AnD The TrAnsLATor Jon Mathieu is professor of history at the university of Lucerne and at the swiss federal institute of Technology in Zurich. he was the founding director of the instituto di storia delle Alpi at the università della svizzera italiana and has organized several international conferences about the history of mountains. in 2008 he received the King Albert i Mountain Award for his research. Among his publications are History of the Alps 1500–1900. Environment, Development, and Society (Morgantown: West virginia university press 2009, with previous editions in German and italian); Religion and Sacredness in Mountains: A His- torical Perspective, special issue of Mountain Research and Development, 2006 (co-editor); and Mountain Pastoralism and Modernity: Historical Approaches, special issue of Nomadic Peoples, 2009 (co-editor). he is the proud owner of an Alpine hut in the swiss mountains, built by his grandfather, where he plans to retire after having seen more of the world’s mountains. Katherine Brun holds a ph.D. in early modern european history from the university of California at Berkeley (2008). she is currently writing her first book, entitled The Abbot and His Peasants: Building the Territorial State in Salem, 1473–1637. While living at less than 100 metres above sea level, she is also a mountain enthusiast who has backpacked over 5,000 miles, including long distance hikes on the Appalachian and pacific restC Trails. The Third Dimension f roreWo D The goal of thisComparative History of Mountains in the Modern Era is to encour- age the investigation of human and social history in the third dimension. other disciplines, such as botany, climatology and geography, have established an early interest in the three-dimensionality of the earth. if we choose to approach the subject from a historical perspective, however, we must move the central axis of history into the foreground – humans and their diachronic existence. Marc Bloch spoke