Christian Juergensen Thomsen
Christian Jürgensen Thomsen (born December 29, 1788 in Copenhagen ; † May 21, 1865 ibid) was a Danish archaeologist and founder of the three-period system , according to which European prehistory can be divided into Stone Age , Bronze Age and Iron Age .
Life
Thomsen was the son of a businessman whose business he had to continue after his father's death. In addition, he dealt with numismatics , antiquity and art history and put on a coin and antiquities collection.
In 1807 Thomsen joined the "Commission for the Preservation of Antiquities", founded in the same year, under the leadership of Rasmus Nyerup (1759-1829). In 1816, Nyerup resigned as head of the commission and Thomsen took over the post. In 1819 the collection of antiquities became the Danish National Museum in Copenhagen and Thomsen became the first custodian of the so-called "Old Norse Collection". During the reorganization of this collection, he realized that the found material can be divided into everyday objects and weapons made of stone, bronze and iron and that this division can be explained chronologically. He is the founder of the so-called three -period system . In 1836 he explained his findings in a "Guide to Nordic Antiquity". His system was then adopted by archeology across Europe and its basic features are still valid today for Europe and Eurasia.
Thomsen later took over the management of the coin and medal collection, the inspection of the painting collection and that of the ethnographic museum. In 1861 he became director of all collections, of which he was the actual creator and folder. In 1864 he was accepted as a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg .
Fonts
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Ledetraad til nordisk Oldkyndighed . Det kongelige nordiske oldskriftselskab , Copenhagen 1836.
- German translation: Guide to Nordic antiquity . Copenhagen 1837, books.google.de .
literature
- Christian Juergensen Thomsen . In: Carl Frederik Bricka (Ed.): Dansk biografisk Lexikon. Tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537-1814. 1st edition. tape 17 : Svend Tveskjæg – Tøxen . Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag, Copenhagen 1903, p. 220 (Danish, runeberg.org ).
- Ulla Lund Hansen (editor): Christian Jürgensen Thomsen. 1788 - 29th December - 1988. Det kongelige nordiske oldskriftselskab , Copenhagen 1988, ISBN 87-87483-11-4 ( Aarbøger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie. 1988).
- Jørn Street-Jensen: Christian Jürgensen Thomsen and Ludwig Lindenschmit. A scholarly correspondence from the early days of antiquity (1854–1864). Contributions to the history of research. Publishing house of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, commissioned by Rudolf Habelt, Bonn / Mainz 1985, ISBN 3-88467-014-X ( Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum. Monographs 6).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Christian Juergensen Thomsen . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 15, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 659.
- ^ Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences since 1724. Christian Juergensen Thomsen. Russian Academy of Sciences, accessed October 27, 2015 (Russian).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thomsen, Christian Juergensen |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Danish antiquarian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 29, 1788 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Copenhagen |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 21, 1865 |
| Place of death | Copenhagen |