In 1797 John Frere found numerous flint implements at a depth of about twelve feet in some clay pits at Hoxne, Suffolk, and referred them to “a very remote period indeed, even beyond that of the present world, and to a people who had not the use of metals.”[87] Footnote 87: _Archæologia_, xiii., p. 204. But the discovery does not seem to have attracted any interest, or raised any discussion; and the Hoxne implements lay unnoticed for more than half a century, until Evans, returning from Amiens and Abbeville in 1859, recognised the importance of the collections, and by further excavations proved their antiquity. The belief of the Middle Ages, that everything inexplicable was the work of the Devil, was succeeded by an ascription of all objects of unknown antiquity to the Druids or the Romans; but to neither of these could be attributed the finds which were being made at the beginning of the nineteenth century in the Danish kitchen-middens and dolmens, in the Swiss lake dwellings, and in the caves and gravels of Britain and of France. Still many years were to pass, and many heated discussions were to be held, before archæology came to be recognised as an ally of anthropology, and Prehistoric Man obtained credence. [Sidenote: =Denmark.=] In this new science Denmark took the lead. In 1806 a Commission was appointed to make a scientific investigation into the history, natural history, and geology of the country; and among the first problems to be met with were the dolmens and shell-mounds, abounding in stone implements, which found no period in Danish history capable of accommodating them. History and the sagas were searched in vain. Meanwhile more and more of these prehistoric implements were brought to light. A new Commission was appointed, and the various sites were carefully examined. The collection of Professor R. Nyerup formed, in 1810, the nucleus which, in 1816, expanded into the Royal Danish Museum of Antiquities at Copenhagen, now, as the National Museum, lodged in the Princessen Palace. C. J. Thomsen held the post of curator from 1816 to 1865. He ordered, arranged, and classified the collections, dividing the objects according to their epoch of culture, and setting them in chronological order, establishing the sequence of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages. This was the first attempt to classify the archæological contents of a museum on a chronological basis, and it was continued, elaborated, and developed by his successor, Professor J. J. A. Worsaae, 1865 to 1885.[88] Footnote 88: The classification itself was not new; it had been adumbrated by many writers. See Evans, 1872, pp. 3 ff. [Sidenote: =Caves.=] Another class of evidence which was of great importance in determining the pre-history of man was that derived from the caves. The beginnings of cave-exploration are described by Professor Boyd Dawkins:—