ABSTRACT
This chapter analysis some key examples in the historical development of vertical chronologies highlights the particular temporal tensions at play as a visual language emerged in geology. It traces the history of the conceptual relationships by examining key texts in the history of science, paying attention to the development of their visual language. The visual representation of time is of particular significance, given the systematic correspondence between spatial and temporal expressions and the limitations of written text for conveying spatial knowledge. The chapter emphasises how the historical analysis of time concepts in science requires an understanding of its practices since both concepts and practice enfold in movement. It illustrates the verticalisation of time and its systematic separation from space in archaeology and related sciences, particularly geology and palaeontology. One potential tension within vertical chronologies relates to how texts move in both Germanic and Romance languages.
