ABSTRACT
Mesolithic sites - and in particular the many and extensive shell middens along Denmark’s coasts and fjords - have interested archaeologists for more than 150 years. As early as 1848 this interest was formalized by the setting up of the first Køkkenmødding-kommission (kitchen-midden or shell-mound commission). The natural sciences were, from the outset, an integral part of the investigations and this is reflected in the composition of the first commission, which consisted of an archaeologist, a geologist and a zoologist. The second and third commissions were set up in 1893 and 1937 respectively, and were similarly multidisciplinary in their composition.
