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Illustration of C.J. Thomsen from 1902.

Christian Jürgensen Thomsen (December 29, 1788 – May 21, 1865) was a Danish archaeologist, who proposed the Three Age System, for the chronological classification of prehistoric artifacts, divided into the Stone, Bronze, and Iron ages.

Life

Christian Jürgensen Thomsen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the son of a wealthy merchant. He initially started to work with his father, gradually developing his interest for archaeology and antiquities.

Although he lacked academic training, in 1816 he succeeded Rasmus Nyerup as Secretary of the Danish Royal Committee, being appointed the head of its 'antiquarian' collection. That collection eventually developed into the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, and Thomsen became the first curator of the Museum in 1819.

Thomsen had a business spirit and knew how to attract general public. He used lively guided tours which presented certain parts of exhibitions with such imaginary that people could vividly experience the history. All that resulted in people started to flock into museums. The first half of the ninteenth century has been known today as the Golden Age of Danish museology, the period when many museum collections in Copenhagen became reorganized based on Thomsen’s classification system.

In 1841, Thomsen established the first ethnographic museum in Copenhagen.

By the 1850s, most of Thomsen's collections were moved to Prinsens Palæ, the Crown Prince's Palace, an eighteenth century rococo palace in the center of Copenhagen, which in 1892 was reorganized into the present National Museum. His collection was glamorous, containing ethnographical collection, a coin collection, and prehistoric and historical collections. The museum eventually became famous not only in Copenhagen and Denmark, but all around the Europe.

Thomsen died on May 21, 1865, in Copenhagen, Denmark

Work

Thomsen remains famous for his Three Age System, for the chronological classification of prehistoric artifacts. As the European museums became overrun with artifacts from all over the world, they lacked a system of the classification of the archeological material, a sort of method of dating the material. Thomsen rejected the random arrangement, in which museums used their own classification systems in arranging the displays. Thomsen believed that a better system could be devised, which will take into account chronological sequence when certain artifact was made.

Thomsen argued that nobody would use stone tools if bronze tools were discovered, or that nobody would use bronze ones if the iron tools were available. Following that logic, he hypothesized that human technological development proceeded in stages, from more primitive to more advanced. Thomsen first explained his idea of three stages - Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age - in his work Ledetraad til nordisk Oldkyndighed (Guidelines on Nordic Antiquarianism) from 1836.

His system was based on a pure hypothesis of prehistoric development. It suggested that early hominids of Europe had gone through stages of technological development, which reflected in the production of tools made of stone, bronze and iron. Based on the raw material, Thomsen named the three prehistoric ages – Stone, Bronze, and Iron Age.

Prior to Thomsen, Greek poet Hesiod hypothesized of the four stages of human history - Age of the Gods (Golden Age), Age of the Demi-Gods (Silver Age), Age of the Hero (Bronze Age), and Age of Man (Iron Age). However, in contrast to Hesiod, whose ages decline, as the humankind becomes more cruel and corrupt, Thomsen saw humans progress to higher levels of technological development. In the eighteenth century, French archeologist Nicholas Mahudel also proposed the categorization of prehistoric times into Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. In 1813, historian Videl-Simonson suggested that earliest antiquities of Scandinavia were of wood and stone; and that only later appeared cooper or iron tools .

Thomson's successor to the directorship of the National Museum of Denmark, Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae, found evidence to support Thomson’s ideas. He tested the stratigraphic soundness of the system, finding it valid - the layers of Stone Age tools underlaid those with bronze or iron. Worsaae published his results in 1843. It was the first time that scientific evidence existed to support the thesis of prehistoric three ages.

Thomsen also wrote one of the first systematic treatises on gold bracteates, thin, single-sided gold coins produced in Northern Europe in the Migration period. He divided the typology for bracteates into several letter-named categories, a system introduced in an 1855 treatise named Om Guldbracteatene og Bracteaternes tidligeste Brug som Mynt.

Legacy

Thomsen's Three Age System was later modified into four ages, subdividing the Stone Age into the Old Stone (now Paleolithic) and New Stone (Neolithic) ages. Mesolithic (Middle Stone) Age and Chalcolithic (Copper and Stone) Age, were also added to the original terms, and the term “Age” was replaced by “Period”. The full chronology subsequently existed as Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze, and Iron Period.

The whole system has been strictly used to describe technological development of peoples in Europe, Middle East, and North Africa. Outside of those areas scientists have found development at different rates. Some cultures have skipped some of the stages of development altogether. Amazonian tribes, for example, still remain in the Neolithic period, while African peoples south of Sahara skipped Bronze Age and went straight from using stone to iron.

Publications

Thomsen, Christian Jürgensen. 1831. Fortegnelse over Georg Friderich Timms undmærkede mynt- og medaille-samling. Kjöbenhavn: Schultz.
Thomsen, Christian Jürgensen. 1836. Ledetraad til nordisk oldkyndighed. Kjöbenhavn: S.L. Møllers bogtr.
Thomsen, Christian Jürgensen. 1855. Om guldbracteaterne og bracteaternes tidligste brug som mynt.
Thomsen, Christian Jürgensen. 1857. Atlas de l'arehéologie du Nord représentant des échantillons de l'age de bronze et de l'age de fer. Copenhague: De l'imprimerie de Thiele.
Thomsen, Christian Jürgensen. 1873. Catalogue de la collection de monnaies. Seconde partie: Les monnaies du moyen-age. Copenhague: Impr. de Thiele.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Christian Jürgensen Thomsen. Answers.com, on <http://www.answers.com>. Retrieved on July 7, 2007, <http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-j-rgensen-thomsen>
Christian Jürgensen Thomsen. Minnesota State University at Mankato, on <http://www.mnsu.edu>. Retrieved on July 7, 2007, <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/thomsen_christian.html>
Olsen, Olaf. 1988. Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, 1788 - 29. december - 1988 / Det kongelige nordiske oldskriftselskab. Aarbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed og historie, 1988. København: Det kongelige nordiske oldskriftselskab.
Trigger, Bruce G. 2006. A History of Archaeological Thought. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521840767

External links

Christian Jurgensen Thomsen – On Thomsen’s work
Nineteenth century archeology – Article by Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews
Nordisk Museology – On the work of C.J. Thomsen in the Journal on Nordic Museums and Museology
Three-ages system – Chronology of the Three Ages and Biblical periods
The War for Fire: An epic vision of evolution – Article on prehistoric archeology by Éric Lysøe

Credits

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@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Although he lacked academic training, in 1816 he succeeded Rasmus Nyerup as Secretary of the Danish Royal Committee, being appointed the head of its 'antiquarian' collection. That collection eventually developed into the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, and Thomsen became the first curator of the Museum in 1819.
-Thomsen had a business spirit and knew how to attract general public. He used lively guided tours which presented certain parts of exhibitions with such imaginary that people could vividly experience the history. All that resulted in people started to flock into museums. The first half of the 19th century has been known today as the Golden Age of Danish museology, the period when many museum collections in Copenhagen became reorganized based on Thomsen’s classification system.
+Thomsen had a business spirit and knew how to attract general public. He used lively guided tours which presented certain parts of exhibitions with such imaginary that people could vividly experience the history. All that resulted in people started to flock into museums. The first half of the ninteenth century has been known today as the Golden Age of Danish museology, the period when many museum collections in Copenhagen became reorganized based on Thomsen’s classification system.
 In 1841, Thomsen established the first [[ethnography|ethnographic]] museum in Copenhagen.
-By 1850s, most of Thomsen's collections were moved to Prinsens Palæ, the Crown Prince's Palace, a 18th century [[rococo]] palace in the center of Copenhagen, which in 1892 was reorganized into the present National Museum. His collection was glamorous, containing [[ethnography|ethnographical]] collection, a coin collection, and [[prehistory|prehistoric]] and historical collections. The museum eventually became famous not only in Copenhagen and Denmark, but all around the [[Europe]].
+By the 1850s, most of Thomsen's collections were moved to Prinsens Palæ, the Crown Prince's Palace, an eighteenth century [[rococo]] palace in the center of Copenhagen, which in 1892 was reorganized into the present National Museum. His collection was glamorous, containing [[ethnography|ethnographical]] collection, a coin collection, and [[prehistory|prehistoric]] and historical collections. The museum eventually became famous not only in Copenhagen and Denmark, but all around the [[Europe]].
 Thomsen died on May 21, 1865, in Copenhagen, [[Denmark]]
@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 His system was based on a pure hypothesis of [[prehistory|prehistoric]] development. It suggested that early [[hominid]]s of [[Europe]] had gone through stages of [[technology|technological]] development, which reflected in the production of tools made of stone, bronze and iron. Based on the raw material, Thomsen named the three prehistoric ages – '''Stone''', '''Bronze''', and '''Iron Age'''.
-Prior to Thomsen, [[Greece|Greek]] poet [[Hesiod]] hypothesized of the four stages of human history - Age of the Gods (Golden Age), Age of the Demi-Gods (Silver Age), Age of the Hero (Bronze Age), and Age of Man (Iron Age). However, in contrast to Hesiod, whose ages decline, as the humankind becomes more cruel and corrupt, Thomsen saw humans progress to higher levels of technological development. In 18th century [[France|French]] archeologist [[Nicholas Mahudel]] also proposed the cathegorization of prehistoric times into Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. In 1813, [[history|historian]] [[Videl-Simonson]] suggested that earliest antiquities of [[Scandinavia]] were of wood and stone; and that only later appeared cooper or iron tools .
+Prior to Thomsen, [[Greece|Greek]] poet [[Hesiod]] hypothesized of the four stages of human history - Age of the Gods (Golden Age), Age of the Demi-Gods (Silver Age), Age of the Hero (Bronze Age), and Age of Man (Iron Age). However, in contrast to Hesiod, whose ages decline, as the humankind becomes more cruel and corrupt, Thomsen saw humans progress to higher levels of technological development. In the eighteenth century, [[France|French]] archeologist [[Nicholas Mahudel]] also proposed the categorization of prehistoric times into Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. In 1813, [[history|historian]] [[Videl-Simonson]] suggested that earliest antiquities of [[Scandinavia]] were of wood and stone; and that only later appeared cooper or iron tools .
 Thomson's successor to the directorship of the National Museum of Denmark, [[Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae]], found evidence to support Thomson’s ideas. He tested the [[stratigraphy|stratigraphic]] soundness of the system, finding it valid - the layers of Stone Age tools underlaid those with bronze or iron. Worsaae published his results in 1843. It was the first time that scientific evidence existed to support the thesis of prehistoric three ages.