Mystery of Stonehenge Solved

For centuries, historians and scientists have sought the meaning behind Stonehenge's construction. Built around 3000 BC, it has taken a very, very, very long time for anyone to truly unravel the mystery of its creation...until now.

According to researchers at Britain's University of Sheffield, the country's much-visited Stonehenge was used as a cemetery from its early beginnings and very likely began its existence as a resting place for a local elite and generations of descendants. That elite, it is being speculated, could have even represented a very primitive ruling dynasty.

Archaeologists Mike Parker-Pearson and Andrew Chamberlain have led the campaign to uncover Stonehenge's original purposes. Their methods included using radiocarbon dating on the cremated remains of at least three souls buried at the site, excavated after the Second World War. Since that time the Stonehenge dead have been housed at Salisbury Museum, and it took Parker-Pearson and Chamberlain to finally perform radiocarbon dating after all this time.

Many have speculated that Stonehenge was once a burial site, but these recent findings seem to cement those beliefs. "It's one of those little facts that has kept being swept under the carpet," Parker-Pearson said. (Source: theglobeandmail.com)

The new evidence allows scientists to confirm that the site was used as a burial ground for longer than previously expected, some 500 years after its first construction. (Source: bbc.co.uk)

The archaeologists have speculated on the social position of the original burials based on the number of those originally placed there. Very few can be dated to 3000 BC, leading the scientists to believe those originally buried there were very special people, indeed.