From National Geographic: Stonehenge stood as giant tombstones to the dead for centuries, new radiocarbon dating suggests.

The site appears to have been intended as a cemetery from the very start, around 5,000 years ago—centuries before the giant sandstone blocks were erected—the new study says.

New analysis of ancient human remains show that people were buried at the southern England site from about 3000 B.C. until after the first large stones were raised around 2500 B.C.

"This is really exciting, because it shows that Stonehenge, from its beginning to its zenith, is being used as a place to physically put the remains of the dead," said Mike Parker Pearson of England’s University of Sheffield.

“It’s something that we just didn’t appreciate until now.” [continue]