Drenthe in the north of the Netherlands, is a huge treasure trove of prehistoric funnel beaker ceramics (pottery). The creators where colossal. They also built resting places for giants, now better known as hunebedden.

In the New Stone Age –neolithic– , these hunebed builders not only erected mysterious megalithic monuments. They also made characteristic and richly decorated pottery. Nowadays known as funnel beaker or “tiefstich” (the German name) pottery.

This summer we wanted to get to know these Stone Age potters. And where better than in our primal province of Drenthe.

The Giants of Drenthe

In 1660, reverend J. Picardt, from Rolde, wrote his book Antiquities about the history of Drenthe. He declared that the two “Stone-Heaps” next to his church where built by (man-eating) giants. How did he know that?

In his day, the stone-mountain of Diever was already referred to as ‘het hunnebet’, the bed of “Huynen“, the Dutch medieval word for giant. But there were also other more colorful names for these huge stacked heaps of stones such as “Des duvelde kolse” or “Duvelskut(te)“.

Despite the call of the medieval church for the destruction of these pagan structures, 52, of the estimated 80 to 100, hunebedden have been spared in Drenthe. The in total 54 hunebedden in the Netherlands are our oldest monuments. They are megalithic structures, stone burial monuments about 5,000 years old.

Modern scientific research has taught us that the giants of yesteryear were the first farmers to settle in the North of the Netherlands. They weren’t really big, probably not much longer than five feet (1.6 meters).

Prehistoric Dutch pottery

These hunebed builders were part of the funnel beaker culture (in the Netherlands from 3,350 to 2,750 BCE). Archaeologists refer to these creative makers by the name of their international abbreviation “TRB West Group” (from the German “Trichter-Rand-Becherkultur”).

The TRB West Group are not the first farmers in our country. The Linear Pottery Culture ( LBK of the German “Linearbandkeramik” 5300 – 4900 BCE) had already switched to agriculture in the Netherlands two thousand years earlier. But this culture did not expand further than to the far south of our country (Maastricht, Elsloo, Stein, Sittard and Geleen).

The funnel beaker culture spread in northern and central Europe from 4,300 BCE. The “western group” appeared relatively later and built our megalithic graves (hunebedden) in northern Netherlands, north-west Germany and Denmark.

Funnel beaker ceramics in the Netherlands

These funnel beaker farmers didn’t just lay their dead in hunebedden, stone crates and burial mounds. They also gave them gifts, including funnel beaker pottery. Partly thanks to the hunebedden, these treasures could be rediscovered thousands of years later.

What was striking during excavations is that the Northern Dutch hunebedden contain an extraordinary amount of pottery (shards). In 1912, J.H. Holwerda was the first in the Netherlands to dig up at least 400 pots in a scientifically responsible manner at the Drouwen hunebed (D19).

Partly thanks to this find, archaeologists discovered the enormous richness of this culture. The ceramists of the time made not only their characteristic funnel beakers, but also collar neck bottles, amphorae (pots with two ears) and terrines (single-ear bowls). Experts assume that the pots were made for daily use, despite the fact that they also had a function in burial rituals.

Almost all of these ceramics are richly decorated with (deep) rhythmically placed lines. With a stick or bone, deep patterns are placed in the unfired clay. After firing, these were filled with ground burnt bone. This made these patterns more visible.

The German name “tiefstichkeramik” is therefore an excellent description. Even better than the Englisch name “funnel beaker” (a direct translaton of the Dutch “trechterbeker”). That refers only to part of the work.

On the shoulders of giants

What the deeper meaning is of these rich forms – and specific patterns on – the pottery we will probably never be discovered . What remains is the high artistic quality. Despite, by today’s standards, limited technical knowledge, they have made works that still evoke admiration.

Face to face with the (restored) prehistoric pottery, I was amazed at how fine it is made. Much less robust than I expected. The variety of shapes is also impressive. And I’m not the only one, even seasoned archaeologists are (almost) emotional when describing the ceramics:

“Tiefstich pottery has a great variety of shapes, was decorated with loving care, was sensitive to fashion, and, (..) fragile.”

(J.A. Bakker, (2009, p.12) “The TRB West Group”)

The funnel beaker ceramics impressed from the moment it came out of the fire to this day. Contemporary potters can still learn from these prehistoric colleagues. The enormous development that ceramics has undergone since then started with them, among others.

“We stand on the shoulders of giants”

Funnel beaker pottery is one of the many pillars of support. Our current knowledge and aesthetics of our modern ceramics is based on this. The hunebed builders from Drenthe, with a length of about five feet.

A giant doesn’t always have to be tall…

Learn more

I have listed my consulted sources below. Have you also become mesmerised by these mythical stones and prehistoric ceramics? Then take a look.

Books on hunebedden (sorry mostly in Dutch):

• Gids voor de hunebedden in Drenthe en Groningen (2017, 2e druk), Wijnand van der Sanden. 
• Fietsen langs hunebedden (2005). 
• De stem der Stenen, (2018) Evert van Ginkel.
• Mytische Stenen, deel 1: Nederland (2017/2019). Hendrik Gommer.
• Reuzenstenen op de es, de hunebedden van Rolde (2007) Wijnand van der Sanden.
• In het spoor van Lukis en Dryden (2015) Wijnand van der Sanden
• Een paleis voor de doden (2017), Herman Clerinx.
• Megalitisch Research in the Netherlands, 1547-1911 (2010) J.A. Bakker.
• De hunebedden in Nederland (met atlas) dl1 (1925-1927), A.E. van Giffen
• De hunebedden in Nederland (met atlas) dl2 (1925-1927), A.E. van Giffen

Books on prehistoric ceramics

• The TRB West Group,(2009, reprint of 1979), J.A. Bakker. Still the standard work on the funnel beaker ceramics of the hunebed builders. Interesting but scientific and theoretical.
• Embracing Bell Beaker (2019), Jos Kleijne.
• Ceramics Before Farming (2016), Peter Jordan, Marek Zvelebil.
• Forgotten Band ceramics (2014), Ivo van Wijk, Luc W.S.W. Amkreutz & Piet van de Velde.
• Simular But Diffrent – Bell Beakers in Europe (2004), Czebreszuk, Janusz (ed)

Websites with more information about megalithic monuments:

• Hunebedden.nl
• Hunebeddeninfo.nl
• hunebednieuwscafe.nl/
• Hunebedcentrum.eu
• Grosssteingraeber.de
• Steinzeugen.de
• Stonepages.com