About 300m after the town sign of Odoom on the road to Borger you will find on the right a Hunebed sign, on the left a boulder marking the field track to the Hunebed. Just behind the Hunebed sign is a small paved area, which can be used as a parking space. From here is it just 250m to walk to the Hunebed.
D32 Odoorn is called a 'low' Hunebed, as the supporting and end stones are still buried half in the ground. The Hunebed is no longer complete: one capstone and three of the ten supporting stones are missing.
Near the Hunebed were once four other Hunebeds (now disappeared): D32a, D32b, D32c and D32d. It is said that the church of Odoorn is made up of stones from these Hunebeds.
As the accompanying photographs show, Hunebed D32 Odoorn is still largely buried under the remains of its barrow. Measuring 7.5 x 3 metres, this hunebed consists of 10 sidestones and 5 capstones, but there is no evidence of there ever having been either an entrance passage or a circle of kerbstones. The sidestones lie deeply buried in the sand, giving D32 a low profile. Of the capstones, three still remain on their supports while two have long since collapsed into the crypt.
This hunebed was investigated by Albert van Giffen in 1958, when he discovered a pit from the Funnel Beaker Period, containing two beakers which were dated at between 3400-3200 BCE, possibly associated with an ancient ritual.
Hunebed D32 Odoorn lies just under a kilometre northwest of the centre of the village of Odoorn. From the village centre, head northwards along Hoofdstraat, which morphs into Borgerderweg as it exits the village at the point where houses on the left give way to a patch of woodland.
Half a kilometre on you encounter farm buildings on the left, followed by a patch of woodland. Just past the farm, a 'Hunebed Sign' directs you along a country track to the left that heads towards these trees for about 200 metres. The hunebed stands just on the left, beside the trees, at the end of this path.
This wasn't on our list, but we passed so close by it on our way up to Borger, we couldn't resist calling in to say 'hi'. Easy to find, this rather wrecked monument nevertheless has charms. It's bucolic position in it own little copse in the middle of wide open fields is cosy and inviting. Only one capstone is still supported, the rest are down, giving it the feeling of a wounded animal, not yet quite willing to admit defeat. All but one hunebedden are in state care, with no risk of being ploughed up or dismantled, so Odoorn's survival in it's broken condition is assured. By the time we got to Odoorn, most of the snow had melted from the monument in the bright, crisp sunshine.
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