The Prehistory of Denmark
Jorgen JensenThis book was written to present a general survey of the prehistory of Denmark as it has emerged after the past decade of research. Up to the 1960s Danish archaeology was dominated by a handful of distinguished scholars: Sophus Müller, Johannes Brøndsted, Gudmund Hatt, P.V. Glob, and C.J.Becker. Moreover the discipline was strongly influenced by continental modes of thought, and the chronological problems were still the main focus of research.
However, in Denmark as in other European countries, the 1960s became a period of change. A wave of new theories did away with the old diffusionistic framework. Many scholars spoke of a crisis in the profession. But as elsewhere in the west, the 1960s also marked the beginning of a rich productivity in the field, and today we can speak of at least three contrasting theoretical perspectives in Danish archaeology: positivist, marxist and structuralist. Each one of them has been able to open up fruitful perspectives
for future research.