Later burials were found outside the circle, indicating its use changed

Experts say this suggests the circle was originally a cremation cemetery

Towering above the grassy Salisbury Plain, its eerie rock monoliths are steeped in myth and magical stories, yet despite decades of research, the original purpose of Stonehenge remains a mystery.

A new study by archaeologists, however, has suggested the imposing stone circle may have initially been used as a cremation cemetery for the dead.

Charred remains discovered on the site were unearthed in holes - known as the Aubrey Holes - that have been found have to once held a circle of small standing stones.

Stonehenge (pictured) may have originally been built as a cemetery for the dead, according to a new paper by archaeologists. They claim burned human bone found in 56 different holes left by a smaller early stone circle built on the site 3,000 years ago provide clues to its original use that then later changed

Fresh analysis of the burned bones has revealed they were buried in the holes over a period of 500 years between 3,100BC and 2,600BC.

During this time the enormous sarsen trilithons, many of which still stand today, were erected.

WHAT WAS STONEHENGE FOR? No-one is exactly sure why – or even how - Stonehenge was built. Experts have suggested it was a temple, parliament and a graveyard. Some people think the stones have healing powers, while others think they have musical properties when struck with a stone. They could have acted as a giant musical instrument to call ancient people to the monument. There is evidence the stones were aligned with phases of the sun and some have proposed it was used as a giant observatory to monitor the stars. People were buried there and skeletal evidence shows that people travelled hundreds of miles to visit Stonehenge - for whatever reason. Advertisement

But after 2,500BC, the people who used Stonehenge appear to have stopped cremating and burying human remains in the stone circle itself, instead burying them in a ditch around the periphery.

This, according to Professor Mike Parker-Pearson, an archaeologist at University College London, and his colleagues, suggests there was a shift in the cultural significance of Stonehenge around this time.

They argue that it later became a place to revere long-dead ancestors who had been buried on the site.

Writing in the journal Antiquity, they said: 'Stonehenge changed from being a stone circle for specific dead individuals linked to particular stones, to one more diffusely associated with the collectivity of increasingly long-dead ancestors buried there.

'This is consistent with the interpretation of Stonehenge's stage two as a domain of the eternal ancestors, metaphorically embodied in stone.'

Stonehenge was built in five stages between around 3000BC to 1500BC and had initially consisted of a small circle of standing stones known as bluestones, imported from Wales.

Later the larger inner circle of stones were erected with the giant monoliths and sarsen stones seen today.

Archaeologists excavated the burned bones (pictured) that had been previously dug up from around the site of Stonehenge during the 1920s. They say analysis suggests the site was used as a cemetery

Stonehenge has gone through several phases of development, the first of which is thought to have been a circle of bluestones from Wales sited on a ring of 56 Aubrey Holes (marked 13 in the picture). Bones found in these holes date to around the period when these stones were placed and the inner stone circles was built

Between 100 and 200 people are said to have been buried across the Stonehenge site during the late Neolithic and copper age. A recent separate study, of Aubrey Hole seven, found the remains of 14 females and nine males, with the help of CT scans and osteological analysis (site pictured)

In the 1920s archaeologist William Hawley discovered the remains of cremated bone in several Aubrey Holes around the Stonehenge site, which he estimated to belong to 59 individuals.

He noted many of the burials had been circular, indicating they had been placed in bags before being buried.

He also found just one policed gneiss mace-head with one of the burials but no other grave goods.

Sadly, at the time the remains were not considered to be important and were reburied all together in a single Aubrey hole.

THE CONTROVERSIAL ORIGINS OF STONEHENGE'S BLUESTONES It has long been thought the bluestones, which form Stonehenge's inner ring came from Wales, and were transported to Wiltshire using primitive Stone Age technology. But earlier this year a team of archaeologists and geologists led by academics from University College London (UCL) claimed Stonehenge was originally built in Pembrokeshire, hundreds of years before the monument was taken down and rebuilt in its current location. The UCL team said it has discovered two prehistoric quarries in the county, 140 miles (225km) away from Stonehenge, which appear to be the origin of the bluestones used to build the monument. Carbon dating suggests the stones were dug out 500 years before the famous monument was erected in Wiltshire. One archaeologist suggested that the new evidence shows Stonehenge was 'a second-hand monument', with the site where its stones were quarried being 'the Ikea of Neolithic monument building'. In particular, the researchers said they had discovered a series of recesses in the rocky outcrops of Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin that match Stonehenge's bluestones in size and shape. They even said they found similar stones that the prehistoric builders extracted, but left behind, and 'a loading bay' from where the huge stones could be dragged away. But these claims have been disputed by a separate team writing in the the journal Archaeology in Wales. Dr Brian John, Dr Dyfed Elis-Gruffydd and John Downes said there are 'no traces of human intervention in any of the features that have made the archaeologists so excited'. The UCL team claims the stones were transported 140 miles (225km) from Pembrokeshire to Salisbury Plain in around 2900 BC, but the conflicting study said debris used to link the sites was caused by glaciers Advertisement

But in the new study, researchers described how they re-excavated these remains and subjected them to modern analysis using radiocarbon dating.

They found the remains of at least 27 adults and young adults and were able to identify nine of these as male and five as female.

The dating of the remains showed the remains found in the Aubrey Holes had been buried between 3,100BC and 2,600BC.

During the dig the archaeologists discovered a previously unexcavated burial of the cremated remains of an adult woman.

Burials at Stonehenge were likely for people of higher status. The latest analysis of the burned bones (remains previously found on the site pictured) revealed they were buried in the holes over a period of 500 years between 3,100BC and 2,600BC

Researchers believe the site may have taken on a new significance around 2,500 years ago when it became more loosely associated with the dead as a place where ancestors were embodied metaphorically within the stones (pictured)

THE BONES FOUND IN THE PIT Between 100 and 200 people are said to have been buried across the Stonehenge site during the late Neolithic and copper age. A recent separate study focused particularly on a pit known as Aubrey Hole seven - one of 56 chalk pits encircling the famous ancient site. Burial at Stonehenge was likely for people of higher status. The pit was excavated in the 1920s by archaeologist William Hawley who reburied them for safe-keeping, in what has been described as an 'undifferentiated mass.' As a result, the fragments have become co-mingled - or mixed up. In total, the team recovered 99 lbs (45kg) of cremated bone from Aubrey Hole seven. Researchers identified 14 females and nine males, with the help of CT scans and osteological analysis. Radiocarbon dating revealed the burials took place from around 3,100 BC to 2,140 BC - among the earliest phases of Stonehenge. Advertisement

This suggested her bones remained where they had been buried around 5,000 years ago in the hole dug for the bluestone.

It suggests the bluestones had originally been used to identify individuals who had been buried beneath them.

The researchers said the use of Stonehenge and its surrounding land as a cemetery probably ended with the Beaker period after 2140BC, by which time Stonehenge stages 2 and 3 were completed.

Professor Parker Pearson and his colleagues said: 'Our research shows that Stonehenge was used as a cremation cemetery for mostly adult men and women for around five centuries, during and between its first two main stages of construction.

'In its first stage, many burials were placed within and beside the Aubrey Holes. As these are believed to have contained bluestones, there seems to have been a direct relationship between particular deceased individuals and standing stones.

'Human remains continued to be buried during and after Stonehenge's second stage, demonstrating its continuing association with the dead.