310 GENERAL VIEWS ON ARCHAEOLOGY. 



pine might have diminished sensibly in this way, in consequence of 

 the increase of the primitive population. 



The decrease of the oak is also due, in some measure, to the progress 

 of industry; this has been very apparent for the past. four or" five 

 centuries, and especially during the present one. 



The direct intervention of man would, however, not explain suffi- 

 ciently the development of new species, and the fact of a gradual and 

 natural change of the arborescent vegetation in Denmark is not the less 

 an acquisition to science. 



In connection with this it is somewhat interesting to state here the 

 remark of a good observer: "The fir does not flourish at present in 

 Denmark, it is always small and unhealthy, and it runs to waste in 

 branches, the longest of which remain trailing on the ground. This 

 gives it the shape of a cone with a wide base, which never rises above 

 twenty-five or thirty feet. It is only in Sweden and Norway that the 

 fir reassumes its height and beauty." 1 



As to the synch ronological relations that may exist between the age of 

 bronze and that of iron, on one hand, and the development of the 

 arborescent vegetation of Denmark, on the other, there are not suffi- 

 cient data to establish them. All that is known on this subject is, 

 that the age of bronze must have commenced after the close of the age 

 of the pine, and after the commencement of the age of the oak. It is 

 also known that the epoch of the oak corresponds, at least partly, with 

 this age, for there have been found articles of the age of bronze, such 

 as the magnificent bronze bucklers of the museum of Copenhagen, in 

 a Kjaermose connected with the age of the oak. Lastly, it is known 

 that the historical age, including that of tradition, that is, the age of 

 iron, belongs essentially to the epoch of the beech. 



III. SUBJECT OF EACES. 



The human races, which have followed each other in the course of 

 ages, beginning with that primitive population, which accumulated 

 the materials of the Kjoekkenmoedding on the shores of Denmark, are 

 absorbing the attention of the scientific men of the North, antiquaries 

 as well as naturalists. In the absence of all historical or even philo- 

 logical data, they have to turn towards natural historj* and set them- 

 selves to gather together the solid remains of the ancient populations, 

 especially skulls, in order to arrive at the result by the method of 

 comparison. This study has formed, for a number of years past, the 

 speciality of the learned Professor Retzius, of Stockholm, and it is not 

 neglected at Copenhagen. Much yet remains to be said on the sub- 

 ject, but the researches are still continued, and they begin to be full of 

 light. 



We are now in possession of good materials for the age of stone, 

 for the primitive population of the North buried its dead in sepulchral 



1 Ch. v, Bonstettcn. Scandinavia and the Alps. Geneva, 1826, page 70. Under the term 

 of ordinary language, fir, the author probably means the pine of the botanists. 



