ARCHAEOLOGIST

Christian Jürgensen Thomsen

1788 - 1865

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Christian Jürgensen Thomsen (29 December 1788 – 21 May 1865) was a Danish antiquarian who developed early archaeological techniques and methods. In 1816 he was appointed head of 'antiquarian' collections which later developed into the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. While organizing and classifying the antiquities for exhibition, he decided to present them chronologically according to the three-age system. Other scholars had previously proposed that prehistory had advanced from an age of stone tools, to ages of tools made from bronze and iron, but these proposals were presented as systems of evolution, which did not allow dating of artifacts. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Christian Jürgensen Thomsen is the 8th most popular archaeologist (up from 12th in 2019), the 74th most popular biography from Denmark (up from 99th in 2019) and the most popular Danish Archaeologist.

Christian Jürgensen Thomsen is most famous for his Three Age System, which is a system of dividing up prehistory into three periods: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age.

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Among ARCHAEOLOGISTS

Among archaeologists, Christian Jürgensen Thomsen ranks 8 out of 151. Before him are Jean-François Champollion, Heinrich Schliemann, Howard Carter, Edward Drinker Cope, Arthur Evans, and Den. After him are Colin Renfrew, Semerkhet, Marija Gimbutas, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, Nynetjer, and V. Gordon Childe.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1788, Christian Jürgensen Thomsen ranks 6. Before him are Arthur Schopenhauer, Lord Byron, Sarah Baartman, Augustin-Jean Fresnel, and Archduke Rudolf of Austria. After him are Jean-Victor Poncelet, Ranavalona I, Princess Augusta of Bavaria, Infante Carlos, Count of Molina, Étienne Cabet, and Antoine César Becquerel. Among people deceased in 1865, Christian Jürgensen Thomsen ranks 9. Before him are Ignaz Semmelweis, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Leopold I of Belgium, William Rowan Hamilton, Emil Lenz, and Anna Pavlovna of Russia. After him are Johann Franz Encke, William Jackson Hooker, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsesarevich of Russia, Robert FitzRoy, and Heinrich Barth.

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In Denmark

Among people born in Denmark, Christian Jürgensen Thomsen ranks 74 out of 1,032. Before him are Anders Fogh Rasmussen (1953), Anne of Denmark (1574), Princess Charlotte of Denmark (1789), Carl Bloch (1834), Mads Mikkelsen (1965), and Carl Theodor Dreyer (1889). After him are Eric VI of Denmark (1274), Anna Karina (1940), Ulrika Eleonora of Denmark (1656), Arne Jacobsen (1902), Eric V of Denmark (1249), and Michael Laudrup (1964).

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Among ARCHAEOLOGISTS In Denmark

Among archaeologists born in Denmark, Christian Jürgensen Thomsen ranks 1. After him are Peter Wilhelm Lund (1801), and Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae (1821).

Danish born Archaeologists

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