Equally easy to spot are the benefits stemming from one of the earliest welfare state systems and some of Western Europe's most liberal social policies. ¦ Early settlements Traces of human habitation, such as deer bones prised open for marrow, have been found in central Jutland and dated at 50,000 ВС, but it is unlikely that any settlements of this time were permanent, as much of the land was still covered by ice. From 14,000 ВС tribes from more southerly parts of Europe arrived during the summer to hunt reindeer for meat and antlers, which provided raw material for axes and other tools. The melting ice caused the shape of the land to change, the warmer climate enabled vast forests to grow in Jutland. From about 4000 ВС, settlers arrived with agricultural knowledge: they lived in villages, grew wheat and barley and kept animals, and buried their dead in dolmens or megalithic graves. The earliest metal and bronze finds are from 1800 ВС, the result of trade with southern Europe. The richness of some pieces indicates an awareness of the cultures of Crete and Mycenae. By this time the country was widely cultivated and densely populated. Battles for control over individual areas saw the emergence of a ruling warrior class, and, around 500 AD, a tribe from Sweden calling themselves Danes migrated southwards and wrested control of what became known as Denmark {Danmarl. Ш The Viking era Around 800 AD, under King Godfred, the Danish boundaries were marked out. However, following Charlemagne's conquest of the Saxons in Germany, the Franks began to threaten the Danes' territory and they had to prepare an opposing force. They built fast seaworthy vessels and defeated Charlemagne easily. Then, with th; Nonwegians, they attacked Spanish ports an,: eventually invaded Britain. By 1033, the Dane: controlled the whole of England and Normans and dominated trade in the Baltic. In Denmark itself, which then included muc of what is now southern Sweden, the majority c' people were farmers: the less wealthy paid taxes to the king and those who owned large tracts of land provided the monarch with military forces !n time, a noble class emerged, expecting and receiving privileges from the king in return for their support. Lawmaking was the responsibility of the tings, a type of council consisting of district noblemen. Above the district tings was a tier of provincial tings, which were charged with the election of the king. The successful candidate could be any member of the royal family, which led to a high level of feuding and bloodshed. In 960, with the baptism of King Harald ("Bluetooth"), Denmark became officially Christian principally, it's thought, to stave off imminent invasion by the German emperor. Nonetheless, Harald gave permission to a Frankish monk, Ansgar, to build the first Danish church, and Ansgar went on to take control of missionary activity throughout Scandinavia. Harald was succeeded by his son Sweyn I ("Forkbeard").