From De Bult to the Dolmens of Havelte

The medieval collective of larger farmers created a beautiful landscape around Uffelte and Havelte. High-lying fields were separated by gigantic forests, large peat areas, vast heathlands and beautiful drifting sands. The Uffelterzand is a smaller area that is covered by forests and heath. If you look closely, you can see a few burial mounds in this area. The Westerzand is larger, which is formed by an estate where forest, heath and peat merge into each other. Part of this estate is privately owned, another part is accessible to the public.

During the bike ride you cycle to a beautiful piece of history that has been preserved in our country in the Westerzand: dolmen D54 and dolmen D53, both built during the Funnel Beaker culture. Fourteen supporting stones carry the capstones, of which there are six in total. The easternmost capstone is missing, together with the keystone.

Hunebed D53 is even larger and has 21 supporting stones, two keystones and nine capstones. The gate is also complete and consists of four supporting stones and a capstone. In 1918, this dolmen was scientifically investigated and during the excavation work, the shards of 665 pots were found. In addition, the investigation showed that the dolmen once had sixteen ring stones instead of the current ten.