o6 



recent plantations of imported trees have taken place, abso- 

 lutely prehistoric in that country. That age was succeeded 

 by degrees by an age of oaks (Q. robur, sessiliflora, Smith). 



Above the oak layer appears a bed of beech trees — 

 now the forest tree par excellence of Denmark. Through- 

 out the term of these three strata, the records so to speak 

 of successive ages of pine, oak, and beech, the poplar 

 {popidus tremula L.) appears, while the white birch (betulct 

 alba L.) lies in the lower beds, and is succeeded above by 

 the hetula verrucosa L. which is the form now prevalent 

 in Denmark. In Denmark these forest pits are considered 

 the most ancient of the three peat or moss formations. The 

 whole of these, according to M. Steenstrup, are full of 

 relics of bygone races of men. He states that he believes 

 that there is not a pillar a yard square of any moss in 

 Denmark that would not yield some specimen of ancient 

 handiwork. 



The forest pits do not at the bottom exhibit traces of 

 human presence, but amongst the pines objects of the stone 

 age appear, proving the great antiquity of the primitive 

 population of Denmark. M. Steenstrup himself took stone 

 implements from under the stems of ancient pines. Pieces 

 of wood cut (with the help of fire) also occur. 



It would seem that the age of bronze implements coin- 

 cided Avitli the oak era, and the age of iron, which falls 

 within historic ken, with the still current period of the 

 beech. 



In the British Islands the forest pits have not hitherto 

 been distinguished. In Ireland the peat bogs prevail over 

 a large extent of country, and the boggy levels also occur. 

 Each has furnished a large store of stone instruments, and 

 occasionally objects of wood of greater or less antiquit}^ 



In England stone implements are not unfrequently found 

 in the'low level tracts of river valleys. 



The peat bogs, passing under the name of Mosses, are of 



