TERPEN!!

Today we spent the day looking at terpen (or wierden if you're from Groningen). It was...so interesting. Terpen (terps in English) are mounds of dirt and manure that people live on. Yes, I spent a full day looking at barely elevated mounds of dirt. A great use of my time.

I shouldn't have such a bad attitude about them though. They actually are interesting. The terpen were built as early as 500 BC, starting as mounds for individual farmsteads. The mounds allowed settlers to live in regions that flooded frequently near the Wadden Sea which had rich, fertile soils. Even the slightest change in elevation made a huge difference. These terpen eventually grew over centuries and generations, until full villages were built on the circular mounds built up by the farmers/villagers. The villages were laid out in a circle around a central "watering hole" that provided fresh water when the sea was flooded. Eventually, the spread of Christianity replaced the central water with a church, and the mounds became less functional with the building of dikes in the same time frame. (sorry to sound like a history book...I actually do like the history of terpen though)

So really, they are kind of cool. To study. Maybe. For one day. Or even two. But to study them in class, have three readings about them, go to a museum about them and then visit 20 of them (literally, no exaggerated numbers here)...it was a little too much for me. I did really like the first few. In Ezinge, the first site, most of the terp had been dug away as a part of archaeological digs, so it was easy to see the size of the mound itself. Only about half of the terp remained, with the church at the highest point. My "favorite" was one that Prof. Aay pointed at outside our van window, saying, "This one is pretty spectacular by terp standards." I barely even saw it. I took pictures of about 15 of the terps, and I'll try to post a few just to show you what I'm talking about.

Another bonus of the day, I got to go to Groningen and drive through Friesland where my great-great-great(?) grandparents lived (if I'm remembering our family history correctly). I know "Fennema" is Friesan at least. I wish that I could have spent more time there; I might have to go back. Oh, and Mom/Wigboldy relatives, I saw a street called "Wigboldstraat"...could it have been significant? I don't know. I don't even know where we were. But it was cool knowing that our family has a history in that region.

Overall, it was not my favorite day, but hopefully tomorrow will be a bit better. We're visiting a windmill museum so I will finally get to see inside of one!

Oh, and THANK YOU to my dear home church, Brookfield CRC, for sending me a terrific care package! It's been so nice to eat some good American candy for a change!

Tot ziens!