Jens J. A. Worsaae worked closely with Christian Jurgensen Thomsen, a pioneer in archeological thought, Thomsen established the famous National Museum of Denmark in order to organize the growing number of artifacts that were accumulating in the early 19th century. He proposed the three-age system (Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age), which became the basis for modern archeological method.
When Thomsen died, Worsaae took over the museum. During this time, he went on many excavations attempting to gather support for Thomsen’s system. Worsaae’s findings showed the three-age system to be a logical way of classifying artifacts. Worsaae also subdivided the three-age system, making it more specific and refined. He divided the Stone and Bronze Ages into two parts and the Iron Age into three. Later archeologists further subdivided the ages. At the end of the 19th century, Thomsen’s and Worsaae’s much refined three-age system was named the Montelius system and universally recognized by the archeological community. Worsaae’s work is important because he helped establish archeology as an organized science.
http://www.natmus.min.dk/PP/PPhistgb.htm
http://www.ukans.edu/~hoopes/histevo.html
Written by Karl Anderson
Edited by Marcy L. Voelker, 2007