Attitudes toward Mountains - Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions - page 454

CHAPTER NINE
Attitudes toward Mountains
EDWIN BERNBAUM and LARRY W. PRICE
Mountains today are almost universally viewed with admiration and affection. Positive
attitudes toward mountains have not, however, always been universal. During the Middle
Ages and much of the Renaissance, many people in Europe, the English in particular,
shunned mountain ranges such as the Alps as demonic, abhorrent places to avoid
whenever possible (Nicholson 1959; Mathieu 2006). However, earlier Europeans, such
as the Celts and the Greeks, revered hills and mountains as divine palaces and abodes
of deities whom they looked up to and worshipped (Bernbaum 1997). Positive attitudes
have had a longer continuous history in other parts of the world, such as Asia (Mathieu
2011) and the Middle East, where they date back thousands of years. People have been
attracted by mountains for millennia; as discussed in the following chapters, they have
traveled through them, used different altitudinal environments on a seasonal basis for
hunting and gathering and the grazing of their animals, built permanent homes in them,
and tilled the soil. But throughout recorded history, humans have regarded mountains
ambiguously, with both fear and fascination—a characteristic response to the experience
of places regarded as sacred (Otto 1950). In order to understand our modern love of
mountains, it is necessary to trace the development of these ideas through time and to
place them in historical perspective.
The Prehistoric Era
Very little is known about early views of mountains. Much of the evidence is based on the
study of indigenous societies who still follow prehistoric ways of life. Impressed by vol-
canic eruptions, storms, avalanches, and other physical manifestations of power, many of
these societies view mountains as the homes of powerful deities and demons that have to
be treated with great care and respect. Accordingly, various cultures in the prehistoric
period probably established elaborate taboos, ceremonies, and sacrifices to appease the
wrath of the gods and invoke their blessings.
Early societies probably identified mountains with the weather. Mountains are the
homes of storms, lightning, strong winds, cold, and clouds. Mountains are also associated
with snow, a phenomenon which may or may not occur in the lowlands; in any event,
snow is much more persistent at high altitudes, transforming the mountain peak into
an unearthly site (and sight), a natural abode of spirits and gods. The association with
weather probably led to widespread reverence of mountains as sources of life-giving wa-