At Hunebed D2. This Dolmen is located near the Norgerholt at Norg/Westervelde, The Netherlands.
It is a small dolmen from the Funnel Beaker culture and had originally four capstones. A remnant of the third capstone is in the grave and the fourth one is missing. The stones were sadly used as building material or road pavement. But they had to be reduced first. This was done by drilling holes, filling them with gunpowder and detonating them. Holes can still be seen in the remainder. Fortunately, there is now a sign explaining that it’s a burial side and it should be treated with respect.
This hunebed is 8 meters long and 3 meters wide. No scientific research has ever been done into this hunebed, it is possible that the cellar contents are still intact.
In 2018, cup marks were discovered on the monument. They consist of a concave depression, no more than a few centimeters across.
The cup marks have often been interpreted as fertility symbols, calendars, fire drills, images of constellations, maps or signposts. In the specialist literature they are often explained as sacrificial bowls. Some experts like to point out that the Hindus would pour offerings into such bowls.
I’d like to point out that the Hindus are indeed an Indo-European people but that the funnel beaker people were here before the Yamnaya culture spread.
In the context of the Kurgan hypothesis, the Funnelbeaker culture is seen as non-Indo-European. These Old European peoples would later be dominated by peoples of the Indo-European Yamnaya culture who invaded from the east.
Nevertheless, according to other reports, they are natural altars on which food, flowers or aromatic plants were offered to fertility gods. In Scandinavia many of the names connect cup-marks with elves, dwarves and various other-worldly beings (the so-called underjordiske)
It is known in Germany that people put butter in these cups. From this an ointment would be obtained or it would be an offering to supernatural beings. Such stones were called butter stones.
I’d better pour some lemonade here, I usually do not carry butter with me while I’m biking!
