70 



THE STONE AGE. 



Ill the earliest age the use of metal was unknown, the 

 weapons were made of stone, horn, and bone, 1 and towards 

 the close of this age pottery was made. 



The first traces of man in some parts of the present Scandi- 

 navia are the Tcjokkenmoddinger (kitchen refuse heaps), con- 

 sisting of oyster and mussel shells, bones of fish, birds, and 

 mammals, such as the deer, bear, boar, beaver, seal, ure-ox. 

 wolf, fox, &c., &c., with remains of clay vessels. Among and 

 near these heaps of refuse are found a great number of rude 

 implements and weapons made of flint, bone, horn, and broken 

 flint chips, also fireplaces made of a few stones roughly put 

 together, thus showing that the inhabitants lived in a very 

 primitive state. 



No graves of the earliest period of the stone age have thus 

 far been found in the North. Towards the latter part of this 

 age we see a great improvement in the making of weapons 

 and tools ; the latter were beautifully polished, and graceful 

 in form. Domestic animals had also been introduced, as shown 

 by the bones of cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, and dogs, that have 

 been found in the graves. Beads of amber and bone were worn 

 as ornaments. The graves of the stone age discovered in the 

 present Scandinavia and on the islands and shores of the 

 Baltic maybe classified in four groups: the cromlech or (loli'm-u : 

 the passage or gallery graves; the free-standing stone coffins; 

 and the stone coffins covered bij a mound. 2 



The cromlechs consist of from three to five large stones 

 standing upright, and so placed as to form a ring, with a 

 large block or boulder on the top. These were intended for a 

 single body, buried in a sitting position, with flint implements 

 and weapons. The w 7 alls of the chamber were made by large 

 stones, smooth inside, and the floor consisted of sand or gravel. 

 Certain marks on the tops of stones seem to indicate tli.-it 



1 Antiquities of the stone age have 

 been found in bogs at Hcebelstrup ; S.tnd- 

 bjerg, near Horsholm ; Lcesten, near 

 Banders ; Kjoer, Ringkjobing Amt, Jut- 

 land ; Samso, &c. ; and in mounds. 

 Among them are numerous amber beads ; 

 Hint tools from 4| to 10 ins. long, many 

 having teeth like a saw ; a.\e-blades, 

 chisels, spear-points, and ornaments. 



2 The following contents of a 

 at Lnthra, Vestergotland, are typical : 

 5 spear-heads, 1 arrow-head, 19 rough 

 flint axes, 4 bone pins, 18 bone beads. 

 4 amber beads, H pierced teeth of bears, 

 dogs, and pigs, several bones of co\\>. 

 and a great number of skeletons. 



