wilh the exception of stone cists placed togeiher, which, however, are easily to be distinguished from the stone chambers; they consist, as a general rule, of mere earth, with heaps of small stones, and always present themselves to the eye as mounds of earth, which, in a few rare instances are surrounded by a small circle of stones, and contain relics of bodies which have been burned and placed in vessels of clay with objects of metal."[1]
It would appear from the remains found near the lake habitations of Switzerland, that, though, during the Stone period, neither goat, the sheep, nor the domestic ox can be proved to have existed in Denmark, they were already present in Southern Europe, but, even if the lake-habitations do not, as seems probable, belong to a period subsequent to that of the "Kjökkenmöddings," it is easy to believe that in many respects the inhabitants of these more genial countries may have been more civilized than their Northern contemporaries.
In addition, however, to the objects collected from the tumuli and the peat bogs, and to those which have been found from time to time scattered at random in the soil, the Museum of Northern Antiquities contains an immense collection of specimens from some very interesting shell deposits, which are known in Denmark under the name of "Kjökkenmöddings," and which were long supposed to be raised beaches, like those which are found at so many points along our own shores. True raised beaches, however, necessarily contain a variety of species; the individuals are of all ages, and they are, of course, mixed with a considerable quantity of sand and gravel. It was observed, however, in the first instance, I believe by Professor Steenstrup, that in these supposed raised beaches, the shells belonged entirely to full grown, or nearly full grown, individuals: that they consisted of four species which do not live together, nor require the same conditions, and would not therefore be found together alone in a natural deposit: and thirdly, that the stratum contains scarcely any gravel, but consists almost entirely of shells.
The discovery of rude flint implements, and of bones still bearing the marks of knives, confirmed the supposition that these beds were not natural formations, and it subsequently became evident that they were, in fact, the sites of ancient villages, the primitive population having lived on the shore and fed principally on shell-fish, but partly also on the proceeds of the chase. The shells and bones not available for food gradually accumulated round the tents, until they formed deposits generally, from 3 to 5 feet, but sometimes as much as 10 feet in thickness, and in some cases more than 300 yards in length, with a breadth of from 150 to 200 feet. The name Kjökkenmödding is derived from Kjökken, kitchen, and mödding (corresponding to our local word midding) a refuse heap, and it became, of course, evident that a careful examination of these accumulations would throw much light on the manners and civilization of the then population.
