GENERAL VIEWS ON ARCHEOLOGY. 293 



by little a collection which contains, among other things, some ten 

 thousand specimens of bones, each of which is labelled according to 

 where it was found; this having been determined most carefully. 

 Finally, with a select portion of these materials they have formed 

 in the Museum of Antiquities of the North the admirable creation of 

 Mr. Thomsen, a representation of the Kjoekkenmoedding , interesting on 

 account of its size and the judgment with which it has been arranged. 



Let us now enter upon the details of their researches : 



Geographical Distribution. — The Kjoekkenmoedding have been ob- 

 served in Seeland, especially along the Isefjord, in the isle of Fyen, of 

 Moen, and Samsoe, also in Jutland, along the Liimfjord, the Maria- 

 gerfjord, the Bandersfjord, the Kolindsund, and the Horsenfjord. 

 The move southern regions of Denmark have not yet been explored. 



The Kjoekkenmoedding are scarcely found anywhere but along the 

 fjords and arms of the sea, in places where the action of the waves 

 has little power. Along the shore of the open sea, where the waves 

 waste away, and little by little encroach upon the banks, there are 

 none found. Now, as they must necessarily have also existed there, 

 we may conclude therefore that in such localities there must have 

 been a general encroachment of the sea on the land. There would 

 be nothing surprising in this, for Denmark being composed in great 

 part of very movable ground, which is but slightly elevated above 

 the level of the sea, the action of the waves washes it away and easily 

 eats into the shores. 



Ordinarily the Kjoekkenmoedding are situated immediately on the 

 edge of the water. At certain points, however, they are met with at 

 as great a distance as two geographical miles from the present shore, 

 but in such cases it can be proved that the dry land has made an in- 

 road on the sea, either by sand and mud banks, or by the encroach- 

 ment of turf formations. The shells have never been carried inland 

 to any distance from the ancient shore line. 



As regards the elevation at which the Kjoekhenmoedding are situ- 

 ated, it is to be remarked that on the shores of Denmark, although so 

 low, they are nevertheless found out of reach of the action of the 

 waves in rough weather ; say at some ten feet at least above the pres- 

 ent level of the sea. 1 When the shore is higher the Kjoekkenmoed- 

 ding are found also at a greater elevation 



It is evident that deposits corresponding to the Kjoekkenmoedding 

 will be found in a great many countries. Thus, M. Bruzelius, con- 

 servator of the Museum of Antiquities of Lund, has just found some- 

 thing similar on the coast of Sweden, near Kullaberg, in Scania. 



M. Forel de Morges has discovered on the edge of the sea, near 

 Mentona, (G-ulf of Genoa,) certain caves with deposits containing 

 quantities of shells of edible species, broken bones of animals, char- 

 coal, and splinters of flint, fashioned precisely like those in the 

 north. 2 Here, then, are Kjoekkenmoedding of the age of stone, just as 



*A Danish foot is 0.31376 metres. 



2 The grottoes and caverns have usually been inhabited in high antiquity. They there- 

 fore deserve special attention from archaeologists. 



