Summary

Now with an update, September 2013, below

How the Hunebed Centre deals 
with experimental archaeology

The Dutch Granary Affair

The unreliability and vindictiveness of 

an institution with 

experimental-archaeological ambitions.

 

I. Back to 2001/02.

Then the village of Borger-Odoorn could count on extra money as 'cultural town' of the province of Drenthe. Cultural anthropologist and art historian dra. Veronica Veen initiated an ambitious project: the reconstruction of a Funnel Beaker house in its natural environement. As a trial project a reconstruction of a granary was endeavoured, built after traces found in Wittenwater, Germany. Subsidy was subsequently payed to her personally and administered by her. The Hunebed Centre was chosen as a location for this trial project.
   Veronica Veen had already delivered many a well-visited lecture at the Centre. Here she also would arrange an exhibition based on her international research into TRB house reconstructions. It was opened in Decembre 2002 and after a successful year taken over by the Museum Flehite in Amersfoort, under the direction of the wellknown experimental archaeologist prof. Gerard IJzereef, also founder of the Dutch park, the Archeon. On this occasion also a booklet was issued with an enthousiastic preface by him.

In the meantime the construction of the granary near the Hunebed Centre was interrupted by a fierce Octobre storm, destroying the nearly finished roof on the forlast day of its building campaign. More subsidy was needed now, but this did not materialize, most probably inspired by the Hunebedcentre. Veronica Veen continues the project with own money, up to some 2000 euro. With hindsight it has been perfectly clear that the originally chosen and ideal location would later be abandoned in favour of the horrible one by the parking, reducing the granary to a mere eyecatcher, inviting to all kinds of abuse.
 

new and more humble functions of this refined piece of experiemental-archaeology on its new location at the visitor's parking place






Now only brutalizing and exorcizing the owner, initiator and researcher was needed to actually confiscate this showpiece of innovative experimental archaeology. In spite of strong protests by her and her Eanna Foundation directed to the town council, the TRB-house reconstruction (by Veen argumently based on Floegeln II), was bluntly carried on. Also her network of specialists was hijacked.
   The correspondence about matters as location, ownership, copyright etc. was one-sidedly and brutally aborted by the Hunebedcentre; any educational activity at her granary was forbidden to her.
   In this way a climate was created in which Veronica Veen even got a death threat and was declared persona non grata by the assistant director. Yet, she regularily visited the centre, brought groups there, attended congresses and recorded with a loaded heart the ongoing decay of her granary. Meanwhile this was exposed to the elements, vandalism etc on its new spot.
   This part of the story, correspondence included, can be found on the website, already made in 2006: www.hunebedhuis.veronicaveen.net.

II. Rescue and new intrigues

Afters years of ongoing neglect by the Hunebed Centre, the owner decided to rescue her building by taking it back and bringing it to a safe place in Erm. Her action in the early morning of August 15, 2012, could not have been any surprise to the Centre, since they knew her website from 2006 onwards and her objections.
    Yet, with a lot of pomp and circumstance the police was informed of theft and the media were alarmed. (This happened not before later in the afternoon, because it was only by then that the Centre started to miss the building!) Veronica Veen personally explained matters to the attorney general, but the unbelievable happened: a strange coalition of Justice and the Hunebed Centre persevered in haunting Veronica as a suspect, seized the granary and transported it back to Borger to a "neutral" and "safe" location. This appeared to be the firm of a prominent member of the Hunebedcentre Management Team! Soon afterwards a whole correspondence was started up to convince Veronica to collect her granary "for safety reasons"...
   Meanwhile she had wrapped the fragile structure, damaged by the hastly and careless transport to Borger, to safeguard it as well as possible.

the protection against further decay at its new "neutral" and "safe" location



When the press took up Veronica Veen's ownership (RTV-Drenthe already before this desastrous transport and later the Dagblad van het Noorden: "Granary not museum's") the Hunebed Centre came with the long bred-on concoction that Veronica Veen could fetch her granary on the condition to accept her own property as a "donation" of the Hunebed Centre! Consequently she would have been an ordinary thief at the moment of her rescue operation...
    As a result of all this the granary remains in considerable danger, while the owner herself is made powerless. The Hunebed Centre could solve the problem by simply admitting that they have never been the owner, but of course they refuse to do this. Instead, the owner Veronica Veen is pressed also by judicial means to pay "storing costs". What kind of storing? Who stored it there anyway? For sure not Veronica Veen.
    To make things worse the granary has been relocated again and flatly dumped now in the margin of the touristic terrace of the business owned by that MT member of the Centre. This after an attempt to set it up again, which failed. Now, the poles are scattered around, the whole structure is heavily leaning, the straw is spread all around the place, which is desolate and again exposed to the elements and vandalism.

That's how the Hunebedcentre deals with a refined piece of experimental archaeology. They even manage to ask money from the province to build a new one...
   In this light its alarming that the Hunebedcentre is aiming to catch enormous funding, even from up to  the EU. Likewise they suck up lots of knowledge from all kinds of sources without any proper reciprocity or even recognition. And all this to the detriment of the original initiator and qualified researcher dra. Veronica Veen, who is still being excommunicated with slander, intimidation and finally criminalization.

Concluding, the Eanna Foundation has no other option than to call on everyone involved to take all this into consideration and to be cautious in any dealing with this unreliable and vindictive institution.
Additionally it is gradually expanding its monopoly in TRB-matters, evading and even blocking a truly free and open scientific dialogue.

dra Veronica Veen with her granary after her rescue operation, august 2012



The more recent part of this story can be read on:

www. degraanspieker.blogspot.nl

For the story upto 2006:

www.hunebedhuis.veronicaveen.nl

Eanna Foundation, april 2013.

III. Update, September 2013

In the meantime, according to police information, it has become clear that the Hunebed Center has really lodged its complaint to the police as owner of the granary; so it has made a false accusation.
   This means it has been sheer damage control to come up with the "donation construction", which should please of course the owner to accept her own property as a gift! Only, she should collect it herself and also repair all damage on her own costs. And meanwhile she could still be named a thief, which indeed still occurs in abundance.
   Sheer damage control, also because of the extreme dependence on the granary, built up during the past 10 years in the visitor's center's education, marketing, publicity etc., even upto a granary snack.
   Mind you, the granary makes up half of both hijacked projects from Veronica Veen, which makes up their only two substantial reconstructions. With them they try to score now internationally, intruding into the field of experimental archaeology with all its interesting European funds, including expensive and prestigious outings in the form of symposia etc.
   In light of all this it is really sick that (art historian/archaeologist/museologist and cultural anthropologist) Veronica has to pay the full fare for these symposia, is allowed to attend only a part of them and anyway is supposed to shut up.

Additionally the whole "storing" story of the granary at a so-called "neutral""and "safe site" appears to have been a sly set-up. The Hunebed Center has proved to be the official "keeper" appointed by the attorny general. This cannot be based on any law at all. Let alone that a third party could become the factual "keeper". No loss of value should occur - according to law - and a object of cultural history as the granary for sure has to sent to the Governmental Domains. Besides, a confiscation could well happen without any (desastrous) transport.
   With hindsight, also the confiscation itself appears a cunning set-up and cannot be based on any law, according to extensive research.
   In short, there really has been forged a conspicious alliance between the Hunebed Center and the attorney general to keep the granary in Borger and - when this became no longer feasible - to 'generously' donate it to its owner!
   Of course, Veronica won't let all these intrigues rest. They are now firmly under research on all kinds of levels and at last matters are being taken seriously now.
   Keep yourself informed by the website, which will be partly in english too:
www.degraanspieker.blogspot.nl