Stonehenge Used as Cemetery From the Beginning
At least part of the mystery of Stonehenge may have now been solved: It was from the beginning a monument to the dead.
New research shows that Stonehenge was used for more than 500 years as a cemetery. The burials were initially uncovered in a pit around the edge and in the nearby ditch surrounding the monument.
New radiocarbon dates from human cremation burials among and around the brooding stones on Salisbury Plain in England indicate that the site was used as a cemetery from 3000 B.C. until after the monuments were erected around 2500 B.C., British archaeologists reported Thursday.
What appeared to be the head of a stone mace, a symbol of authority, was found in one grave, the archaeologists said, indicating that this was probably a cemetery for the ruling dynasty responsible for erecting Stonehenge.
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