Christian Jürgensen Thomsen

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Christian Jürgensen Thomsen

J. V. Gertner, Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, 1849

29 December 1788
Born
Copenhagen, Denmark
21 May 1865 (aged 76)
Died
Copenhagen, Denmark
Nationality Danish
Archeology
Fields
Museum administration
Known for Introducing the Three-age system

Christian Jürgensen Thomsen (December 29, 1788 – May 21, 1865) was a Danish
archaeologist.

Although he lacked academic training, in 1816 he was appointed head of 'antiquarian'

collections which later developed into the National Museum of Denmark in
Copenhagen. It was while organizing and classifying the antiquities that he proposed
the three-age system, for which he is remembered internationally.

Thomsen also wrote one of the first systematic treatises on gold bracteates of the
Migration period.

Thomsen's study of artefacts within the Copenhagen museum were based on

associations between stylistic change, decoration and context; he recognised the
importance of examining objects from "closed finds", allowing him to determine the
common associations of artefacts for various periods (stone - bronze - iron).
His results were published in the Ledetraad til Nordisk Oldkyndighed (Guideline to
Scandinavian Antiquity) in 1836. An English translation was produced in 1848.

Early life
Christian Jurgensen Thomsen was born in Copenhagen in 1788. As a young man he
visited Paris and, once he had returned to Denmark, became interested in the
collection of coins. This may have encouraged his awareness of stylistic change
through time.[1]

Working life
Thomsen was invited to catalogue the collections of the Danish Royal Commission
for the Preservation and Collection of Antiquities in 1816; this was not a salaried post.
Over the following years Thomsen developed his "three age system", publishing the
excavation of a barrow in 1837 that coroborated his findings.[2]

References
1. ^ Trigger, B. 2006, p. 122
2. ^ Trigger, B. 2006, p. 127

References
Cultural offices

Director of the National Museum Succeeded by

Preceded by
of Denmark Jens Jacob Asmussen
none
1825–1865 Worsaae