Hunebedden are a type of dolmen. They are prehistoric burial sites, and can be found throughout the Northwest of Europe. There are 54 hunebedden remaining in The Netherlands, 52 of them are to be found in the Province of Drenthe. They were built between ca 3450 and 3250 years B.C., but were used until ca 2850 B.C.

Pictures of hunebed D1, situated near Steenbergen (Drenthe).

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Pictures of hunebed D5, situated near Zeijen (Drenthe)

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Pictures of hunebed D10, situated near Gasteren (Drenthe)

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^ nice pics Henk, its hard to imagine something that old.

I'm looking at the pics and my first thought: I know the stones are heavy but..any reports of vandalism at times? People knocking stones over?

^ nice pics Henk, its hard to imagine something that old.


Yes, they've been around much much longer than you and I have. Not as long as the Egyptian pyramids, though...
And there's still a lot we don't know about these burial sites. Why were they built in the first place? And how? And why were they built at those specific places?

I'm looking at the pics and my first thought: I know the stones are heavy but..any reports of vandalism at times? People knocking stones over?


Not a lot of knocking stones over going round... the stone are just too heavy. Two years ago, though, a hunebed near Emmen was vandalised when youths set fire on and under the top stones. One top stone cracked, but was repaired half a year later.

Admittedly, lots of hunebedden have been demolished in the past to be used for construction purposes. Nowadays we see the historic value of these sites and preserve them as much as possible.

Great pics, Henk.

Wonderful pics, Henk.  Thanks for sharing!  8)

Very nice.



Cat

Archeology is so fascinating, and Europe is full of it, but so is the western hem.  Nice shots

I love this kind of stuff  :)