Eighteenth-century 'classification' of mountains in the Alpine region

One of the most significant topics in the history of Alpine geology involves the practise which began in the late eighteenth century of incorporating the sense of geohistory as recorded in the strata within the primarily structural ‘classification’ of formations and mountains. Historical studies concerning this aspect in the scientific literature and unpublished primary sources related to the Alps and the pre-Alps from this period have shown that rocks and formations were then considered as central elements in a ‘proto-stratigraphy’ or lithostratigraphy, which as yet was not based on the prominent use of fossils. This paper presents an introductory overview of some pivotal eighteenth century studies in order to suggest their role in the development of historical geology.