13 



" The deposits of peat in Denmark, varying in depth from ten to thirty feet, 

 have been formed in deep hollows or depressions in the northern drift, 

 or boulder formation. The lowest stratum, two or three feet thick, consists 

 of swamp peat composed chiefly of moss, or sphagnum, above which lies 

 another growth of peat, not made up exclusively of aquatic or swamp plants. 

 Around the borders of the bogs, and at various depths in them, lie trunks 

 of trees, especially of the Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris), often three feet in 

 diameter, which must have grown on the margin of the peat mosses, and 

 have frequently fallen into them." 



Other trees are mentioned by him as found at lesser depths ; but 

 what more concerns us here, he goes on to say, 



"All the land and fresh-water shells, and all the mammalia, as well as 

 the plants whose remains occur buried in the Danish peat, are of recent 



species." 



And further, 



"It has been stated that a stone implement was found [by Steenstrup] 

 under a buried Scotch fir at a great depth in the peat." 



Thus is it indicated that the fall of these early productions of 

 Denmark must have been subsequent to the appearance of man in 

 the locality. 



At a higher level have been found remains of the oak, and at a 

 still higher elevation remains of the beech. 



" By collecting and studying a vast variety of such implements [of stone] 

 and other articles of human workmanship, preserved in peat and in sand 

 dunes on the coast, as also in certain shell-mounds of the aborigines presently 

 to be described, the Danish and Swedish naturalists, MM. Nillson, Steen- 

 strup, Forchhammer, Thorn sen, Worsaee, and others, have succeeded in 

 establishing a chronological succession of periods, which they have called the 

 ages of stone, of bronze, and of iron, named from the materials which have 

 each in their turn served for the fabrication of implements. 



" The age of stone in Denmark coincided with the period the first of 

 vegetation, or that of the Scotch fir, and in part, at least, with that of the second 

 vegetation, or that of the oak. But a considerable portion of the oak period 

 coincided with ' the age of bronze ' for swords and shields of that metal, now 

 in the museum of Copenhagen, have been taken out of peat in which oaks 

 abound. The age of iron corresponded more nearly with that of the beech 

 tree." * 



But we have further to determine, if practicable, the period of the 

 time thus indicated ; and in doing this or attempting it some help may 

 be derived from what are called by the Danes Kjokkenmodding, kitchen 

 middens, or refuse heaps, which are found at certain points along the 

 shores of nearly all the Danish islands. These are heaps of cockle, 

 oyster, and other shells, mixed with bones of beast and bird and 

 fish. Similar kitchen middens have been found elsewhere. Of those 

 now under consideration it is remarked by Lyell that, 



* Marlot, Bulletin, cited p. 292. 



