576 SCANDINAVIAN ARCHEOLOGY. 



of these heaps was soon discovered by the committee ; their formation 

 was evidently due to man ; the shells and the bones of animals were 

 remains of things eaten ; these large heaps were remains of meals, and 

 that is why Mr. Steeustrup called them l<j<l>l{lcenm<l)ddmgs, a word after- 

 ward naturalized in all languages as a scientific term designating the 

 similar remains found in the most distant countries in the world. By 

 acute studies upon the formation and upon the contents of these heaps, 

 Mr. Steenstrup discovered that they originated among a population of 

 hunters and of tishers who were as yet unacquainted with metals, a 

 poi)ulation which had lived in a remote age ; and that the climate of 

 Denmark, and in consequence the flora and the fauna, were then alto- 

 gether different from what they are now. That climate was colder ; the 

 forests consisted of firs; many animals which have now disappeared 

 from the fauna of Denmark were numerous there; for example, the 

 great European carnivores, the Bos primigenius, the Tetrao urogaUus, 

 etc.; of special interest is the presence of a northern bird, now extinct, 

 Alca impennis. The studies of Mr. Steenstrup not only enriched, by 

 their results, Danish paleo-ethnology ; indirectly they were also very 

 important by the influence which they exerted upon the severity and 

 the exactness of the method of the natural sciences which was subse- 

 quently adopted by the prehistoric arch ideologists in Denmark. 



In this time Mr. Worsaae had already extended the circle of his pre- 

 historic studies beyond the limits of his native land, undertaking jour- 

 neys into Germany, France, England, and Ireland ; he had already pub- 

 lished some works containing the results of studies made during these 

 journeys, and had just created thus the comparative method in pre- 

 historic science. Several of his works had been published in foreign 

 languages and had likewise exerted an influence upon the beginning of 

 paleoethnologic studies in other countries. 



From 1850 to 1870, the museum of Copenhagen was greatly enriched ; 

 it increased especially from the materials coming from the systematic 

 excavations of the antiquaries. One event of great importance for the 

 prosperity of the museum and of paleo-ethnology occurred : the reign- 

 ing king, His Majesty Frederick VII, became warmly interested in pale- 

 ology ; he even made his appearance as an author on the subject. New 

 collaborators were added to the museum to those who were already 

 workiug there under the direction of Mr. Thomsen, among others Mr. 

 Boye and Mr. Eugelhardt who, until 18G3, was the director of the mu- 

 seum of Sleswick at Flensburg. 



But relying thus upon materials whose number was increasing and 

 upon ever-extending explorations, progress ought to have been made. 

 First an effort was made to sub-divide the three great ages established 

 by Vedel-Siraonsen, and Thomsen, and to discover their chronological 

 limits. It is always Mr. Worsaae who marches at the head. In 1854, 

 he published an atlas of illustrations : AfbUdninger fra (let Kgl. Museum 

 for nordiske Oldsager (Illustrations of the royal museum of northern 



