The treasures of Drenthe

Drentsche Aa National Park is a unique area. The Drentsche Aa stream has been winding its way through the landscape for centuries. The stream also preserves the old, typical Drenthe esdorp landscape: the Saxon farms around the village green, the fields on the rounded ash trees, the higher fields and the hay fields and meadows in the lower stream valley. And scattered throughout the area you will find countless burial mounds from times gone by. Dolmens are also real gems in the Drenthe landscape. They are prehistoric burial chambers from the New Stone Age, built by people from the Funnel Beaker culture, from 3500 years before our era. The dead were buried there and grave goods were given. Remains of these gifts, such as pottery, weapons and beads, have been found in almost all dolmens. Human remains have rarely been found. The dolmens are built from erratic stones brought in from Scandinavia by advancing land ice. Hunebed D17 is located close to Hunebed D18. They are quite large dolmens. Until 1984, there was an enormous oak tree at dolmen D18, which made the whole place extra picturesque, and they have often been immortalized by artists. The dolmens are first mentioned in 1547. A monk wrote about them that people were sacrificed on these 'Columns of Hercules' before the arrival of Boniface. The nickname of the dolmens was's Duvels Kot. D14 is a large dolmen. It is still reasonably complete: six capstones rest on the supporting stones, fragments of the other capstones are still in the grave. These bear the marks of drill holes for the gunpowder with which they were split. The eighteen side stones and two keystones can also still be admired, as can three gate side stones and eight wreath stones. Dolmen D13 is a unique burial mound because it is partly hidden in its sand mound. It is a so-called stepped grave: the burial vault could be reached via a four-step staircase from the top of the hill. The last dolmen on this cycle route is Dolmen D08. Four capstones still rest on eight side stones and two keystones. There is also a gate stone. This dolmen is located in the De Strubben - Kniphorstbos nature reserve, an archaeological reserve with numerous burial mounds and prehistoric cart tracks