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 old, typical Drenthe esdorp landscape has also been preserved with the stream: the Saxon farms around the brink, the fields on the convex ash trees, the higher fields and the hay meadows and meadows in the lower stream valley. And scattered across the area you will find countless burial mounds from times long past. Dolmens are also real gems in the Drenthe landscape. They are prehistoric burial chambers from the New Stone Age, built by people from the Funnelbeaker culture, from 3500 years before our era. The dead were interred in it and grave goods were given. Remnants of these gifts have been found in almost all dolmens, such as pottery, weapons and beads. Human remains are rarely found. The megalithic tombs are built of boulders brought in from Scandinavia by advancing land ice. Hunebed D17 is located near Hunebed D18. They are quite large dolmens. Until 1984 there was a huge oak near dolmen D18 that made the whole an extra picturesque picture, and they are therefore often immortalized by artists. The megalithic tombs are first mentioned in 1547. A monk wrote that people were sacrificed on these'Pillars of Hercules\\\' before the arrival of Boniface. The nickname of the dolmens was's Duvels Kot. D14 is a large hunebed. It is still reasonably complete: six capstones rest on the supporting stones, fragments of the other capstones are still in the grave. They bear the traces of drill holes for the gunpowder with which they were split. The eighteen side stones and two keystones can also still be admired, just like three gate side stones and eight wreath stones. Hunebed 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 hunebed on this cycle route is Hunebed D08. Four capstones still rest on eight side stones and two keystones. There is also a portal stone. This dolmen is located in the De Strubben - Kniphorstbos nature reserve, an archaeological reserve with numerous burial mounds and prehistoric cart tracks