12 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ARCHEOLOGY IN DENMARK. 



By Prof. FREDERICK STARR. 



A MUSEUM of national history is, in a sense, a symptom of pa- 

 triotism. No wonder, then, that in Denmark, where every 

 child absorbs love of country with his mother's milk and inhales 

 it at every breath, such museums are in high favor. Two great 

 governmental museums at Copenhagen illustrate the history 

 proper of Denmark ; one, the Museum of Northern Antiquities, 

 is chiefly devoted to objects back of history. 



Prehistoric archseology may almost be said to have taken its 

 rise in the sturdy little northern kingdom. Here it was that 

 Thomsen in 1836 first proposed the terms age of stone, age of 

 bronze, age of iron, now universally used in the science. Thom- 

 sen was a man of profound learning, of most simple and beautiful 

 character, and of immense energy. More than any other single 

 man influential in the establishment of the museum, he shaped 

 its early policy, and his name remains closely associated with its 

 history. Director Thomsen believed in the educational value of 



the collections, and was 

 ever ready to answer the 

 question of a child or 

 to explain to the com- 

 mon people the meaning 

 and importance of the 

 objects here displayed. 

 This policy has been con- 

 tinued to the present, 

 and the result is that the 

 Museum of Northern 

 Antiquities is known 

 and loved by all good 

 Danes (Fig. 1). 



The greatest name in 

 Danish archaeology is 

 that of Worsaae. Of 

 keen intellect, thorough- 

 ly scientific in his mode 

 of thought, of remark- 

 able executive ability, he 

 gave final shape to the whole subject. Under his direction the 

 museum grew enormously; most important explorations were 

 conducted ; steps were taken for the permanent preservation under 

 governmental patronage of important tumuli, dolmens, and other 

 ml iipi'ii ics and monuments both historic and prehistoric. J. J. A. 



Fig. L. C. J. Thomsen. 



