Christian Jürgensen Thomsen

Christian Jurgensen Thomsen ( born December 29, 1788 in Copenhagen, † May 21, 1865 ) was a Danish archaeologist and founder of the three- period system after the European Prehistory in the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age is divided.

1807 came Thomsen founded in the same year " Commission for the Conservation of antiquities ", under the direction of Professor Rasmus Nyerup. 1816 Nyerup put down from his position as head of the commission and Thomsen took over this post. In 1819, the National Museum of Denmark was out of the antiquities collection at Copenhagen and Thomsen was the first curator of the so-called " Old Norse collection ". In the restructuring of this collection, he realized that the discovery material in everyday objects and weapons made ​​of stone, bronze and iron can be divided and that this classification is chronological to explain. He is the founder of the so-called three periodic table. In 1836, he presented his findings in a "Guide to Norse antiquities ". His system was then taken over by the Archaeology in Europe and is in its fundamentals for Europe and Eurasia to date.

Writings

• Ledetraad til nordisk Oldkyndighed. Copenhagen, Det kongelige Nordiske oldskriftselskab 1836.
• German translation: Guidelines for Nordic antiquities. Copenhagen 1837.