Nederland - Loon, hunebed D15

Hunebedden (megalithic tombs) are the oldest monuments in the Netherlands. They were built more than 5.000 years ago in the last phase of the Stone Age by people of the Funnel Beaker Culture, who buried their dead in these hunebedden.
The stones of which the dolmens are built are originating from Scandinavia. They were carried south by the advancing land ice during an ice age. When the ice melted at the end of the ice age, the stones that were carried along were left behind.

Hunebed D15 is located nearby the village of Loon. It has all it takes to be a complete hunebed. Five pairs of upright stones support five capstones and together they form a chamber. The chamber is closed off by two more large stones, one at either end. Halfway along one of the long sides is the entrance. Two pairs of portal stones flank a short passage providing access to the tomb. The passage was originally covered with two capstones, one of which has survived.

The portal stones are connected to a ring a stones, known as “kerb”. Those stones surrounding the hunebed once marked the periphery of a barrow that covered the tomb. There are still 18 of the 23 still remaining, which is unusual because in the past these stones were usually the first to be stolen.

The barrow was dug away shortly after 1870, with intention to restore the honeyed to its original state. In those days it was assumes that the mound of earth did not form part of the tomb.

The hunebedden in the province of Drenthe all have the same basic design. Nowadays most of them don’t have portal stones of a kerb. Hunebed D15 is one of the few including all the possible elements.