About
One of the largest burial mounds in the Netherlands and Belgium, Vorstengraf ("Grave of the King) in Oss stands three meters tall and has a diameter of 54 meters. Located at the interchange Paalgraven, Vorstengraf is named after the pile graves that were found in the immediate area. The surrounding graves were built sometime between the Early Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age, or between 2000 BCE and 700 BCE.
The Vorstengraf wasn't discovered until 1933 when construction of a trailer park resulted in its unearthing. It was dated by a curved iron sword from 700 BCE found in a bronze bucket at the site. A second Vorstengraf was uncovered in 2009 only a few hundred meters away from the first site.
The burial ground was excavated in 2004, forty years after a 1964-65 excavation found that seven mounds in the area were used, thousands of years ago, as seven separate burial sites.
Related Tags
Know Before You Go
Location:Just North of the A59. At 51°43'58.9"N 5°34'01.9"Eit can be reached by taking the exit "Oss-Oost". By bike or on foot from the south take the "Graafseweg" alongside the highway, and turn north onto a small road when you see the underpass under the highway. Walk or bike that and you'll find the location across the road on your left as soon as you are at the other side of the highway.The address mentioned previously is the postal address of a foundation in the middle of the town which is not the location of the grave.
Published
February 27, 2011
