J.A. B A KKER Megalithic Research in the Netherlands The impressive megalithic tombs in the northeastern Netherlands are called ‘hunebedden’, meaning ‘Giants’ graves’. These enigmatic Neolithic structures date to around 3000 BC and were built by the Funnelbeaker, or TRB, people. The current interpretation of these monuments, however, is the result of over 400 years of megalithic research, the history of which is recorded in this book. The medieval idea that only giants could have put the huge boulders of which they were made into position was still defended in 1660. Others did not venture to MEG explain how hunebeds could have been constructed, but ascribed them to the most I ancient, normally sized inhabitants. 16th-century writings speculated that Tacitus was N THE NETHE referring to hunebeds when he wrote about the ‘Pillars of Hercules’ in Germania. A Titia Brongersma is the first person recorded to do excavations in a hunebed, in LITHIC RESE 1685. The human bones she excavated were from normally sized men and suggested that such men, not giants, had constructed the hunebeds. Other haphazard diggings followed, but much worse was the invention of stone covered dikes which required large amounts of stone. This launched a widespread collection of erratic boulders, which included the hunebeds. Boundary stones were stolen and several hunebeds R were seriously damaged or they vanished completely. Such actions were forbidden in L an 1734, by one of the earliest laws protecting prehistoric monuments in the world. ar DS From the mid 18th century onwards a variety of eminent but relatively unknown CH researchers studied the hunebeds, including Van Lier (1760), Camper and son (1768- 1808), Westendorp (1815), Lukis and Dryden (1878) and Pleyte (1877-1902). This intriguing history of ancient hunebed research ends in 1912, when the modern, systematic excavations of complete hunebeds began and continued until 1985. In the Introduction, a brief general review is given of the present knowledge and ideas about the Hunebed Builders, who lived some 5000 years ago during the Stone Age. The book is illustrated with a large number of drawings and prints from the 16th to the 20th century. An extensive summary in German is included. A brief description of all 53 existing hunebeds and 21-24 excavated demolished ones is included in the Megalithic Research in the appendices. Netherlands, 1547-1911 ISBN 978-90-8890-034-1 Sidestone From ‘Giant’s Beds’ and ‘Pillars of Hercules’ Sidestone Press to accurate investigations ISBN: 978-90-8890-034-1 Bestelnummer: SSP40300002 Jan Albert Bakker 693120588 9 789088 900341 This is an Open Access publication. Visit our website for more OA publication, to read any of our books for free online, or to buy them in print or PDF. www.sidestone.com Check out some of our latest publications: Megalithic Research in the Netherlands, 1547-1911 Sidestone Press Artefacts from hunebed D19-Drouwen. This study ends in 1912, when modern hunebed research began with J.H. Holwerda’s complete excavation of the hunebeds D19 and D20 at Drouwen. Now it became clear what bewildering masses of fragmented pottery could be found in Dutch hunebeds (photograph by P.-J. Bomhof, National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden). See further Appendix 3. Megalithic Research in the Netherlands, 1547-1911 From ‘Giant’s Beds’ and ‘Pillars of Hercules’ to accurate investigations Jan Albert Bakker Dedicated to the memory of Konrad Jażdżewski [1909-1985] exemplary researcher of the regional TRB Groups, especially the TRB East and Southeast Groups Heinz Knöll [1911-1989] fundamental researcher of the typochronology of TRB West Group pottery Ulrich Fischer [1915-2006] much admired investigator of the Neolithic and fatherly guide Albert Etto Lanting [1945-2004] precise analyst of European and Near Eastern prehistoric typochronology and a most helpful colleague Jürgen Hoika [1941-2006] colleague in TRB matters and friend © 2010 J.A. Bakker Published by Sidestone Press, Leiden www.sidestone.com Sidestone registration number: SSP40300002 ISBN 978-90-8890-034-1 Cover Illustration: View of hunebed D6-Tynaarlo. School picture from 1901 by Bernard Bueninck [1864-1933]. The image was mirrored for esthetical purposes. Cover design: K. Wentink, Sidestone Press Lay-out: P.C. van Woerdekom, Sidestone Press Contents List of Illustrations 1 A. General Introduction 5 A1. What hunebeds are 6 A2. Modern hunebed research began in 1912 16 B. Research of Dutch hunebeds before 1912 25 B1. General remarks 25 The word hunebed 28 ‘Giants’ become ‘devils and demons’ 33 Proper names for Dutch hunebeds 34 The terms ‘altar’ and ‘dolmen’ 35 B2. From Schonhovius (1547) to De Wilde (1904-1910) 36 1547: Schonhovius 36 1660: Picardt 40 1685: Van Leeuwen 51 1685: excavation of a megalithic tomb at Cocherel, France 52 1685-1694: excavation in D27-Borger (Brongersma, Smids) 54 1687 and 1700: Tollius’s trip through Germany and Von Hennin’s giant hunebed builders 57 1706: excavation in hunebed D17-Rolde 57 1711: Smids returns to the giants 59 1730-1734: the shipworm and the legal protection of the hunebeds in Drenthe 60 1732: Schoemaker, Pronk and De Haen visit hunebeds 64 1756-1760: Van Noorde’s drawing and Van Lier’s investigation of hunebed D13-Eext, and Vosmaer 67 1768-1769: De Pauw 90 1768-1781: Petrus Camper’s hunebed drawings 91 1774: Van Brussel 100 1790: Engelberts 100 1796-1808: Adriaan Camper and the prize contest about the ethnicity and date of the builders of the hunebeds 103 1809: discovery of hunebed D41-Emmen under a barrow 105 1811-1822: Westendorp 108 1841: Magnin’s attempt to give legal protection to the Drenthe hunebeds and barrows 120 1841 and 1849: Arend and Stratingh 121 1840-1868: Janssen 121 Ownership, prohibition of destruction and of excavation of the hunebeds 133 How was a hunebed constructed? 134 The life of the hunebed builders 137 1853-1856: the Hilversum hoax 138 1856-1862: Hofdijk 141 1856-1887: the origin of the large hunebed stones 143 1861 and 1867: excavation and destruction of hunebed D49-Papeloze Kerk 145 1867-1886: Gratama’s successful action to protect the hunebeds 147 1871-1879: Franks, Lukis & Dryden 149 1867-1883: Pleyte, Leemans and Hooft van Iddekinge 160 Ca. 1868 and following years: photographs of hunebeds 166 1885: a wall painting of hunebed building, in Assen 170 1904-1910: De Wilde 173 1886-1911: undocumented ‘exploration’ of hunebeds goes on 179 Regional Groups and the concept of a ‘TRB culture’ 181 Epilogue 185 Acknowledgements 195 About the author 197 Appendix 1: List of the Dutch hunebeds 199 Provincie Fryslân / Province of Friesland 202 Province of Groningen 203 Province of Drenthe 205 Province of Overijssel 226 Province of Utrecht 227 References 229 German summary 271 i Appendix 2: Reports from 1812 and 1809 on megalithic graves on Fehmarn and elsewhere in Holstein, Germany / Berichte von 1812 und 1809 über Megalithgräber auf Fehmarn und anderswo in Holstein 279 (2A) Georg Wolfgang Ulrich Wedel (1812) 279 Abhandlung über den Ursprung der alten Begräbnissdenkmäler im Departement Drenthe, zur Beantwortung der von der Kayserlichen Societaet der Wissenschaften zu Haarlem für den 1sten November 1812 aufgegebenen Preisfrage 279 (2B) H. Wilder und J.D. Gundelach (1809) 288 Steingräber bei Burg, Vitzdorf, Gahlendorf und Petersdorf auf Fehmarn 288 Burg und Oster-Kirchspiel [VIII.144] 288 Petersdorf Ksp. [VIII.146] 289 Additional notes to some of the illustrations 291 Index of Dutch hunebeds and formerly supposed hunebeds [cists] 303 Index of Persons 307 ii List of Illustrations Frontispiece. Artefacts from hunebed D19-Drouwen excavated in 1912 1. The regional groups of the TRB culture (Bakker 1979) 7 2. Typological succession of TRB pottery from hunebeds (Van Ginkel et al. 1999) 11 3. ‘Hunebed Builders’ (Isings 1959) 23 4. The Rolde hunebeds as ‘columnae herculis, Duvels Cutz hodie’ (Ortelius 1579) 39 5. Johan Picardt, portrait and title page (1660) 42-43 6. Giants and a hunebed (Holsteijn in Picardt 1660) 44 7. Giants wailing at the cremation of a deceased giant (Holsteijn in Picardt 1660) 45 8. Giants building a hunebed (Holsteijn in Picardt 1660) 46 9. Titia Brongersma digs in hunebed D27-Borger, in 1685 (Schijnvoet in Smids 1711) 55 10. Giants constructing a Hünengrab near Magdeburg (Tollius 1700) 58 11. Pamphlet about the shipworm catastrophe (Baeck 1732) 61 12. The Zuyder Sea dike at Diemen before and after the shipworm catastro- phe (De Leth ca. 1765) 63 13. Hunebed D53-Havelte (De Haen 1737) 65 14. Hunebed D3-Midlaren (Pronk 1754) 65 15. Hunebed D13-Eext (Van Noorde 1756) 69 16. Joannes van Lier (Bruyninx 1751) 70 17. Title page of Van Lier’s ‘Antiquarian Letters’ (1760) 71 18. Hunebed D13-Eext (Van Lier 1760) 74 19. Artefacts from hunebeds D13-Eext and D12-Eext Es (Van Lier 1760) 77 20. Hunebeds D9-Annen and D13-Eext (Camper 1769 and 1768) 92 21. Hunebed D14-Eexterhalte (Camper 1769) 94 22. Hunebed D14-Eexterhalte (Camper 1769) 95 23. Hunebed D8-Anloo-Kniphorstbos (Camper 1768) 96 24. Hunebed G1-Noordlaren (Camper 1768) 97 25. Hunebed D3-Midlaren (Camper) 98 26. Hunebed D4-Midlaren (Camper) 99 27. Hunebed O1-De Eese (Camper 1781) 99 28. Hunebed D6-Tynaarlo (Engelberts 1790) 101 29. ‘Antiquities found in the hunnebedden’ (Engelberts 1790) 102 List of Illustrations 1 30. Sections of hunebed D41-Emmen at its discovery (Buwama Aardenburg 1809) 106 31. Pottery from hunebed D41-Emmen (Buwama Aardenburg 1809) 106 32a. ‘Tombe des Huns (Hunnebed) duquel on en voit en Drenthe’ (1817) 109 32b. As Figure 32a, but with all pencil lines redrawn in ink. 109 33. Title page of Westendorp (1822) 111 34. Sections of hunebed D41-Emmen, 1809 (Westendorp 1815, 1822) 112 35. Hunebed D6-Tynaarlo (Westendorp 1815, 1822) 114 36.