Grave dates show Stonehenge was a cemetery

Findings suggest long use for site

Steve Bush (right) and Sam Ferguson sieved through earth among the stones at Stonehenge, England. Burials took place as early as 3000 B.C., researchers said yesterday. (KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/ASSOCIATED PRESS/FILE)

At least part of the mystery of Stonehenge may have been solved: It was from the beginning a monument to the dead.

New radiocarbon dates from human cremation burials in and around the stones on Salisbury Plain in England indicate that the site was used as a cemetery from 3000 B.C. well into its zenith around 2500 B.C., British archeologists reported yesterday.

What appeared to be the head of a stone mace, a symbol of authority, was found with one of the burials, the archeologists said, indicating that this was probably a cemetery for the ruling dynasty responsible for erecting Stonehenge.

"It's now clear that burials were a major component of Stonehenge in all its main stages," said Mike Parker Pearson, an archeologist at the University of Sheffield.

In a teleconference with reporters, arranged by the National Geographic Society, Parker Pearson described the three burials of burned bones and teeth that were dated in recent weeks. Researchers estimated that up to 240 people were buried there, all as cremation deposits. Other evidence from the British Isles shows that skeletal burials were rare at this time and that cremation was the custom for the elite.

Another Sheffield archeologist, Andrew Chamberlain, pointed out a reason to think that Stonehenge burials were for generations of a single elite family. The clue, he said, is the small number of burials in the earliest period and the larger numbers in later centuries, as offspring would have multiplied.

Given the monumental surroundings, Parker Pearson said, "one has to assume anyone buried there had some good credentials."

The earliest burial to be tested came from a pit at the edge of the stone monuments; it dates to about 3000 B.C. The second burial dates to about 2900 B.C. The most recent one is from about the time the first arrangements of stones appeared on the plain, approximately 2500 B.C. It was previously believed that the site was a burial ground for only a century after 2700, well before the distinctive large stones were put in place.

Parker Pearson said that finding more datable burials was "a huge priority" of the Stonehenge Riverside Project, which has been excavating the site for eight years. The National Geographic Society is a supporter of the research, and some of the results, other than the burial dating, are reported in the June issue of its magazine.

Although some of the cremated remains were uncovered decades ago, Parker Pearson said, it is only in recent years that improved methods of radiocarbon dating made it possible to analyze burned bones.