D42 lies to the west of Emmen on the Emmeres and can only be reached on foot or by bike via a 500 metre long woodland path. It has sustained serious damage as stone collectors have been very busy here. The tomb was among the larger hunebeds and probably had nine lintels. Four of them remain but only two are still in place. 7 uprights and a keystone are also missing. Markers (made by cement in the ground) show where these missing stones once stood.
Trees seem to have an affinity with hunebeds: the one here towers over the tomb and, whereas most stand next to the hunebed, this one actually grows out of the middle of the grave. There was once a name plate here but that has long disappeared from its stone.
Location of D42
Visit of Professor van Giffen in 1918
“Completely damaged” was how Van Giffen described this hunebed. The original condition could not even be imagined. Of the nine lintels, numbers 1, 2, 4 (or 3), 6 and 7 were missing. Of the other four, only number 9 was in its right place. One keystone and several uprights were missing and he could not find any entrance. An oak tree stood in the middle of the chamber, as it does today. The monument was purchased by the State from a private owner in 1870. My photo is taken from the same position and you can see how much a tree can grow in approximately 85 years!
(Source: Atlas of “De Hunebedden in Nederland”, dr.A.E.van Giffen, 1925)
For more information about this and other hunebeds in Drenthe see www.hunebedden.nl and www.hunebeddeninfo.nl
Text Hans Meijer
Translation Alun Harvey
Photography Hans Meijer and Davado
