Given that you've put this under history, I can only assume you are referring to the historical context; if not, please comment so I can correct my answer.
Throughout history, a phenomenon has persisted in the form of latitude. Because of the difference in climates in every latitude, it was difficult for humans or civilizations to travel far distances north or south without completely reimagining everything they had learned about agriculturally.
Longitude did not have this problem because most areas shared similar climates, crops, and agricultural cultures.