My first postcard of 2010 leads me across the western border of Germany to Drenthe, a province situated in the northeast of the Netherlands. It was sent on its way in the old year, and arrived in my letterbox on January 2nd. A beautiful collage of pictures shows the rural character of the area: moor land dominated by heath, old farmhouses with thatched roofs, a farmer with wooden shoes sharpening the blade of his scythe. While these impressions already prepare for a journey back in time, there is one picture that points to an even older cultural heritage: a megalithic grave. This is one of 54 Hunebedden, as they are called in Dutch, that still remain in the Netherlands. 52 of those can be found in Drenthe. The one pictured on my postcard is the southernmost, found near Havelte. The earliest farmers who settled the area belong to the Funnel Beaker Culture, so called because of the earthenware they produced. Around 3450 BC they started to build their burial sites out of huge boulders. These had made their way from Scandinavia about 200,000 years ago and were transported to the Netherlands by glaciers.
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