334 LECTUEE XII. 



iu the vicinity of the Fjords^ where the surf is moderate and 

 immediately on the sea shore, a few feet above the present 

 levelj may be seen shells-mounds, three, five, and even ten 

 feet high, extending in length to above one thousand feet, with 

 a breadth of one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet. Here 

 and there these heaps He around a free space, which seems to 

 have been a place of habitation ; it is only by way of exception 

 that these heaps are found on the land at a distance from the 

 coast, or much above the level of the sea. These shell-banks 

 are not formed by nature, which would indicate a greater 

 height of the water. But few species are found, all in the 

 adult state, species which do not inhabit the same depth. 

 These shells are intermixed with broken bones of animals, flint 

 implements, coarse pottery, coals, and cinders. There is no 

 doubt that these heaps are hltchen-refuse ; that a people dwelt 

 there who lived on molluscs and animal food, and cast away 

 the shells and bones. The northern scholars thus termed 

 these mounds Kjol-henmoddinger (kitchen-refuse), by which 

 name they are now generally known. In some spots there is 

 seen upon these accumulations a thin layer of gravel and 

 pebbles, deposited by the sea, but mostly they are covered 

 with vegetable earth and green sward. 



The exploration of these refuse-heaps led to the following- 

 results : — Of vegetable matter, but few fragments of burnt 

 wood are found. Here and there are seen peculiar-looking 

 heaps of ashes, which from the large quantity of manganese 

 they contain, seem to be derived form the Zostera marina, a 

 sea plant which, some centuries ago, was still burnt in that 

 country for the extraction of the salt. These mounds testify 

 thus to a similar industry in a remote period. Among the 

 shells the most common is the oyster {Ostrea eduUs), the 

 cockle, mussel, and periwinkle {Gardium edule, Mytilus ediilis, 

 Litorina litorea) all which are eaten at the present day, and still 

 inhabit the same sea, but are now not so large, and have in 

 some parts, where these mounds occur, entirely disappeared. 



That the decrease and disappearance of these edible molluscs 

 is to be attributed to the fisheries cannot well be assumed ; but 

 even the diminution of the salt in the Baltic, to which the above 



