therefore unmixed. In that respect the primeval antiquities of Denmark are peculiarly important. Denmark was peopled at a very early age; it lay beyond the pale of Roman conquest; and there the ante-Roman civilization was kept up to a much later period than in the south and west of Europe. The Royal Museum of Northern Antiquities of Copenhagen contains a greater number of primeval antiquities, than most other collections, and by the efforts of C. J. Thomsen, (the real founder of the Museum,) it has been systematically arranged. The close connection which in the old time existed between Denmark and the British islands, renders it natural that British antiquaries should turn with interest to the antiquities of Denmark, and compare them with those of their own countries.
The present little work, which gives a short review of the Danish antiquities compared with the other antiquities of Scandinavia, was originally written in Danish for a Copenhagen society for the diffusion of useful knowledge[1]. It was not my plan to write a book merely for the archæologist, but more particularly for the general reader. I endeavoured to prove the use and importance of archæological researches, by shewing how the early history of our country can be read through the monuments, and I wanted in that way to excite a more general interest for the preservation of our national remains.
In the supposition that this little book would be acceptable to English readers, my friend Mr. Thoms had already, without my knowledge, translated it into English before my arrival in
- ↑ The Danish title is: "Danmarks Oldtid oplyst ved Oldsager og Gravhöie. Udgivet af Selskabet for Trjkkefrihedens rette Brug. Kjöbenhavn. 1843. 8vo. It has also been published in a German translation. "Dänemarks Vorzeit, durch Alterthümer beleuchtet." Kopenhagen, 1844. 8vo.
