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CHAPTEE VII. 



THE DANISH KJOKKENMODDINGS, OR SHELL-MOUNDS. 



DENMAEK occupies a larger space in the history than 

 on the map of Europe ; the nation is greater than the 

 country. Though with the growth of physical power in sur- 

 rounding populations, she has lost much of her influence in 

 political councils, and has been recently deprived of a great 

 part of her ancient possessions, still the Danes of to-day are 

 no unworthy representatives of their ancestors. Many a larger 

 nation might envy them the position they hold in science and 

 art, and few have contributed more to the progress of human 

 knowledge. Copenhagen may well be proud both of her 

 museums and of her professors, and I would especially point 

 to the celebrated Museum of Northern Antiquities, as being 

 most characteristic and unique. 



For the formation of such a collection Denmark offers great 

 opportunities. The whole country appears to have been, at 

 one time, thickly studded with tumuli ; where the land has 

 not been brought into cultivation, many of them are often in 

 sight at once, and even in the more fertile and thickly popu- 

 lated parts, the plough is often diverted from its course by 

 one of these ancient burial-places. Fortunately, the stones 

 of which they are constructed are so large and so hard, that 

 their destruction and removal is a laborious and expensive 

 undertaking. While, however, on the one hand, land grows 

 gradually more valuable, and the stones themselves are more 

 and more coveted for building or other purposes; on the other, 

 the conservative traditions, the feeling of superstitious reve- 



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