Editing Three-age system (section)

=== The three-age system of C. J. Thomsen ===
[[File:Thomsen.jpg|upright=1.15|thumb|Thomsen explaining the Three-age System to visitors at the Museum of Northern Antiquities, then at the Christiansborg Palace, in Copenhagen, 1846. Drawing by Magnus Petersen, Thomsen's illustrator.<ref>{{harvnb|Rowley-Conwy|2007|p=40}}</ref>]]
An important step in the development of the Three-age System came in the period 1816–1825 when the Danish antiquarian [[Christian Jürgensen Thomsen]] was able to use the Danish national collection of antiquities and the records of their finds as well as reports from contemporaneous excavations to provide a solid empirical basis for the system. He showed that artefacts could be classified into types and that these types varied over time in ways that correlated with the predominance of stone, bronze or iron implements and weapons. In this way he turned the Three-age System from being an evolutionary scheme based on intuition and general knowledge into a system of relative [[chronology]] supported by archaeological evidence. Initially, the three-age system as it was developed by Thomsen and his contemporaries in Scandinavia, such as [[Sven Nilsson (zoologist)|Sven Nilsson]] and [[J. J. A. Worsaae]], was grafted onto the traditional biblical chronology. But, during the 1830s they achieved independence from textual chronologies and relied mainly on [[Typology (archaeology)|typology]] and [[stratigraphy]].<ref>{{harvnb|Rowley-Conwy|2007|p=22}}</ref>

In 1816 Thomsen at age 27 was appointed to succeed the retiring Rasmus Nyerup as Secretary of the ''Kongelige Commission for Oldsagers Opbevaring''<ref>{{harvnb|Rowley-Conwy|2007|p=36}}</ref> ("Royal Commission for the Preservation of Antiquities"), which had been founded in 1807.<ref>{{harvnb|Rowley-Conwy|2007|loc=Front Matter, Abbreviations}}</ref> The post was unsalaried; Thomsen had independent means. At his appointment Bishop Münter said that he was an "amateur with a great range of accomplishments." Between 1816 and 1819 he reorganized the commission's collection of antiquities. In 1819 he opened the first Museum of Northern Antiquities, in Copenhagen, in a former monastery, to house the collections.<ref>{{harvnb|Malina|Vašíček|1990|p=37}}</ref> It later became the National Museum.

Like the other antiquarians Thomsen undoubtedly knew of the three-age model of prehistory through the works of [[Lucretius]], the Dane Vedel Simonsen, [[Bernard de Montfaucon|Montfaucon]] and [[Mahudel]]. Sorting the material in the collection chronologically<ref name="Rowley-Conwy 2007 38" /> he mapped out which kinds of artefacts co-occurred in deposits and which did not, as this arrangement would allow him to discern any trends that were exclusive to certain periods. In this way he discovered that stone tools did not co-occur with bronze or iron in the earliest deposits while subsequently bronze did not co-occur with iron – so that three periods could be defined by their available materials, stone, bronze and iron.

To Thomsen the find circumstances were the key to dating. In 1821 he wrote in a letter to fellow prehistorian Schröder:<ref>{{harvnb|Gräslund|1987|p=23}}</ref>
<blockquote>nothing is more important than to point out that hitherto we have not paid enough attention to what was found together.</blockquote>

and in 1822:
<blockquote>we still do not know enough about most of the antiquities either; ... only future archaeologists may be able to decide, but they will never be able to do so if they do not observe what things are found together and our collections are not brought to a greater degree of perfection.</blockquote>

This analysis emphasizing co-occurrence and systematic attention to archaeological context allowed Thomsen to build a chronological framework of the materials in the collection and to classify new finds in relation to the established chronology, even without much knowledge of their provenience. In this way, Thomsen's system was a true chronological system rather than an evolutionary or technological system.<ref>{{harvnb|Gräslund|1987|pp=22, 28}}</ref> Exactly when his chronology was reasonably well established is not clear, but by 1825 visitors to the museum were being instructed in his methods.<ref>{{harvnb|Gräslund|1987|pp=18–19}}</ref> In that year also he wrote to J. G. G. Büsching:<ref>{{harvnb|Rowley-Conwy|2007|pp=298–301}}</ref>
<blockquote>To put artifacts in their proper context I consider it most important to pay attention to the chronological sequence, and I believe that the old idea of first stone, then copper, and finally iron, appears to be ever more firmly established as far as Scandinavia is concerned.</blockquote>

By 1831 Thomsen was so certain of the utility of his methods that he circulated a pamphlet, ''Scandinavian Artefacts and Their Preservation'', advising archaeologists to "observe the greatest care" to note the context of each artifact. The pamphlet had an immediate effect. Results reported to him confirmed the universality of the Three-age System. Thomsen also published in 1832 and 1833 articles in the ''Nordisk Tidsskrift for Oldkyndighed'', "Scandinavian Journal of Archaeology".<ref>{{harvnb|Gräslund|1987|p=24}}</ref> He already had an international reputation when in 1836 the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries published his illustrated contribution to "Guide to Scandinavian Archaeology" in which he put forth his chronology together with comments about typology and stratigraphy.

[[File:Casa reconstruida do castro de Santa Tegra.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Reconstructed Iron Age home in Spain]]

Thomsen was the first to perceive typologies of grave goods, grave types, methods of burial, pottery and decorative motifs, and to assign these types to layers found in excavation. His published and personal advice to Danish archaeologists concerning the best methods of excavation produced immediate results that not only verified his system empirically but placed Denmark in the forefront of European archaeology for at least a generation. He became a national authority when C.C Rafn,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomsen |first=Christian Jürgensen |title=Ledetraad til Nordisk Oldkyndighed |publisher=Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab |year=1836 |editor-last=Rafn |editor-first=C. C. |location=Copenhagen |language=da |chapter=Kortfattet udsigt over midesmaeker og oldsager fra Nordens oldtid}}.</ref> secretary of the ''Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab'' ("Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries"), published his principal manuscript<ref name="Rowley-Conwy 2007 38">{{harvnb|Rowley-Conwy|2007|p=38}}</ref> in ''Ledetraad til Nordisk Oldkyndighed'' ("Guide to Scandinavian Archaeology")<ref>This was not the museum guidebook, which was written by Julius Sorterup, an assistant of Thomsen, and published in 1846. Note that translations of Danish organizations and publications tend to vary somewhat.</ref> in 1836. The system has since been expanded by further subdivision of each era, and refined through further archaeological and anthropological finds.