Stonehenge. Old & Busted: observatory; New Hotness: party site and burial grounds

The world's most famous prehistoric monument may have begun life earlier than thought as a giant burial ground, new research has found.

Archaeologists revealed today that more than 50,000 cremated bone fragments, of 63 individuals buried at Stonehenge have been excavated.

The study has also found when Stonehenge was built it was the 'Glastonbury of its time' with ancient people flocking from across Britain in their thousands to celebrate the winter solstice.
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The findings overturn the belief that Stonehenge was built as an astronomical calendar or observatory, Professor Mike Parker Pearson from University College London said.

Dating the bones has pushed back the date of the earliest stone circle at the site from 2500BC to 3000BC. Prof Pearson now believes the earliest burials long predate the monument in its current form.
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The findings suggest the act of building monuments was key to those who constructed the site, uniting people from across the island of Britain.
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The most startling discovery was the scale of the settlement at nearby Durrington Walls, which Prof Parker Pearson described as the 'largest Neolithic settlement in the whole of northern Europe', which would have had about 1,000 houses.

This has led the team to conclude 4,000 people would have gathered at the site - a huge number given that Britain's population is estimated to have been only tens of thousands at the time.
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The most startling discovery was the scale of the settlement at nearby Durrington Walls, which Prof Parker Pearson described as the 'largest Neolithic settlement in the whole of northern Europe', which would have had about 1,000 houses.
This has led the team, whose findings are being revealed in a Channel 4 documentary, to conclude 4,000 people would have gathered at the site - a huge number given that Britain's population is estimated to have been only tens of thousands at the time.
By testing cattle and pig teeth found among 80,000 animal bones at Durrington Walls, Prof Parker Pearson and his team discovered people travelled with their livestock from as far away as the Scottish Highlands to Stonehenge.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...3-bodies-historic-monument.html#ixzz2NA1Skjcq
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The notion – that Stonehenge is essentially a large funerary temple created between 3000 and 2500BC – does not find favour with every scientist, however. Indeed, the other main group of UK researchers investigating the site – archaeologists led by Professor Tim Darvill of Bournemouth University – believe the place was an ancient Lourdes. The sick and wounded would come here for cures from the monument's great bluestones, which had been dragged from Wales to Wiltshire because of their magical healing properties. "This was a place for the living," Darvill said.

Such divergence of views would seem to suggest we are as far from understanding the purpose of Stonehenge as we have ever been. English Heritage historian Susan Greaney counselled caution, however. We should not place too much emphasis on our ignorance about the monument, she said. "We know who built it and when they built it and have a good idea how they built it. It is only its ultimate purpose that still remains unresolved," she said.
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