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The identity of the people who built Stonehenge has long been a mystery. Fifty years ago, archaeo... more The identity of the people who built Stonehenge has long been a mystery. Fifty years ago, archaeologists speculated that it was built by Mediterranean or Egyptian architects directing local barbarians. The results of current research indicate that the influences behind its architecture can all be traced to pre-existing British traditions of monument building in Wales and Wessex.Preliminary results of osteological research are demonstrating that, of the estimated 150 people buried at Stonehenge, the 64 that have been excavated were drawn from a restricted section of society. Whereas two of them were adult women and two or three were children, the remainder may have been adult males.The few grave goods found with these cremation burials suggest that these may have been individuals with political and religious authority. They were buried at Stonehenge in the period 3000–2300 cal BC and may have formed one or more dynasties of rulers.Stonehenge’s first stage of construction (3000–2920 ...

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Antiquity, 2016

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Scientific reports, Jan 2, 2018

Cremated human remains from Stonehenge provide direct evidence on the life of those few select in... more Cremated human remains from Stonehenge provide direct evidence on the life of those few select individuals buried at this iconic Neolithic monument. The practice of cremation has, however, precluded the application of strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel as the standard chemical approach to study their origin. New developments in strontium isotopic analysis of cremated bone reveal that at least 10 of the 25 cremated individuals analysed did not spend their lives on the Wessex chalk on which the monument is found. Combined with the archaeological evidence, we suggest that their most plausible origin lies in west Wales, the source of the bluestones erected in the early stage of the monument's construction. These results emphasise the importance of inter-regional connections involving the movement of both materials and people in the construction and use of Stonehenge.

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Scientific Reports, 2018

Cremated human remains from Stonehenge provide direct evidence on the life of those few select in... more Cremated human remains from Stonehenge provide direct evidence on the life of those few select individuals buried at this iconic Neolithic monument. The practice of cremation has, however, precluded the application of strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel as the standard chemical approach to study their origin. New developments in strontium isotopic analysis of cremated bone reveal that at least 10 of the 25 cremated individuals analysed did not spend their lives on the Wessex chalk on which the monument is found. Combined with the archaeological evidence, we suggest that their most plausible origin lies in west Wales, the source of the bluestones erected in the early stage of the monument's construction. These results emphasise the importance of interregional connections involving the movement of both materials and people in the construction and use of Stonehenge. Despite over a century of intense study of Stonehenge, we still know very little about the individuals buried at the site. Attention has focused rather on its monumental construction – the sourcing of the stones, their transport and construction, and on astronomical alignments. Stonehenge, however, also functioned as a cemetery from an early stage in its long history. Excavations in 1919–26 recovered the cremated remains of up to 58 individuals, making Stonehenge one of the largest Late Neolithic burial sites known in Britain (Fig. 1). Following their initial excavation, the cremated remains found in various ' Aubrey Holes' (a series of 56 pits placed around the inner circumference of the bank and ditch, named in honour of the seventeenth century antiquarian John Aubrey who first noted them) and elsewhere at the site were re-interred in Aubrey Hole 7 (AH7). This pit was re-excavated in 2008, and osteoarchaeological analysis identified central occipital bone fragments from at least 25 individuals. Direct radiocarbon dating places them in the centuries between 3180–2965 and 2565–2380 BC, reflecting the monument's earlier stages of construction 1–3 , a period during which cremation was a common burial practice in Britain. While the large sarsens (silicified sandstone) of the second stage of Stonehenge were most likely sourced ca. 20 kilometres north of the site, the bluestones (rhyolite, spotted dolerite and other lithologies) – now thought to have been erected in an earlier stage – have long been linked with the Preseli Hills of west Wales, over 200 km away, with some now more specifically sourced to Craig Rhos-y-felin and Carn Goedog quarries 4,5. This raises questions about the nature of contacts between Wessex (south-central England) and western Britain, and the identity and origin of those chosen for burial at Stonehenge. Were they all drawn from communities in the immediate environs of Stonehenge, perhaps representing a local élite, albeit one possessing significant connections much further afield? Or did some people – as well as the stones – move here from elsewhere?

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Stonehenge London 0 k m 400 N The assemblage of Neolithic cremated human remains from Stonehenge ... more Stonehenge London 0 k m 400 N The assemblage of Neolithic cremated human remains from Stonehenge is the largest in Britain, and demonstrates that the monument was closely associated with the dead. New radiocarbon dates and Bayesian analysis indicate that cremated remains were deposited over a period of around five centuries from c. 3000–2500 BC. Earlier cremations were placed within or beside the Aubrey Holes that had held small bluestone standing stones during the first phase of the monument; later cremations were placed in the peripheral ditch, perhaps signifying the transition from a link between specific dead individuals and particular stones, to a more diffuse collectivity of increasingly long-dead ancestors.

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The identity of the people who built Stonehenge has long been a mystery. Fifty years ago, archaeo... more The identity of the people who built Stonehenge has long been a mystery. Fifty years ago, archaeologists speculated that it was built by Mediterranean or Egyptian architects directing local barbarians. The results of current research indicate that the influences behind its architecture can all be traced to pre-existing British traditions of monument building in Wales and Wessex.Preliminary results of osteological research are demonstrating that, of the estimated 150 people buried at Stonehenge, the 64 that have been excavated were drawn from a restricted section of society. Whereas two of them were adult women and two or three were children, the remainder may have been adult males.The few grave goods found with these cremation burials suggest that these may have been individuals with political and religious authority. They were buried at Stonehenge in the period 3000–2300 cal BC and may have formed one or more dynasties of rulers.Stonehenge’s first stage of construction (3000–2920 ...

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Antiquity, 2016

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Scientific reports, Jan 2, 2018

Cremated human remains from Stonehenge provide direct evidence on the life of those few select in... more Cremated human remains from Stonehenge provide direct evidence on the life of those few select individuals buried at this iconic Neolithic monument. The practice of cremation has, however, precluded the application of strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel as the standard chemical approach to study their origin. New developments in strontium isotopic analysis of cremated bone reveal that at least 10 of the 25 cremated individuals analysed did not spend their lives on the Wessex chalk on which the monument is found. Combined with the archaeological evidence, we suggest that their most plausible origin lies in west Wales, the source of the bluestones erected in the early stage of the monument's construction. These results emphasise the importance of inter-regional connections involving the movement of both materials and people in the construction and use of Stonehenge.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Scientific Reports, 2018

Cremated human remains from Stonehenge provide direct evidence on the life of those few select in... more Cremated human remains from Stonehenge provide direct evidence on the life of those few select individuals buried at this iconic Neolithic monument. The practice of cremation has, however, precluded the application of strontium isotope analysis of tooth enamel as the standard chemical approach to study their origin. New developments in strontium isotopic analysis of cremated bone reveal that at least 10 of the 25 cremated individuals analysed did not spend their lives on the Wessex chalk on which the monument is found. Combined with the archaeological evidence, we suggest that their most plausible origin lies in west Wales, the source of the bluestones erected in the early stage of the monument's construction. These results emphasise the importance of interregional connections involving the movement of both materials and people in the construction and use of Stonehenge. Despite over a century of intense study of Stonehenge, we still know very little about the individuals buried at the site. Attention has focused rather on its monumental construction – the sourcing of the stones, their transport and construction, and on astronomical alignments. Stonehenge, however, also functioned as a cemetery from an early stage in its long history. Excavations in 1919–26 recovered the cremated remains of up to 58 individuals, making Stonehenge one of the largest Late Neolithic burial sites known in Britain (Fig. 1). Following their initial excavation, the cremated remains found in various ' Aubrey Holes' (a series of 56 pits placed around the inner circumference of the bank and ditch, named in honour of the seventeenth century antiquarian John Aubrey who first noted them) and elsewhere at the site were re-interred in Aubrey Hole 7 (AH7). This pit was re-excavated in 2008, and osteoarchaeological analysis identified central occipital bone fragments from at least 25 individuals. Direct radiocarbon dating places them in the centuries between 3180–2965 and 2565–2380 BC, reflecting the monument's earlier stages of construction 1–3 , a period during which cremation was a common burial practice in Britain. While the large sarsens (silicified sandstone) of the second stage of Stonehenge were most likely sourced ca. 20 kilometres north of the site, the bluestones (rhyolite, spotted dolerite and other lithologies) – now thought to have been erected in an earlier stage – have long been linked with the Preseli Hills of west Wales, over 200 km away, with some now more specifically sourced to Craig Rhos-y-felin and Carn Goedog quarries 4,5. This raises questions about the nature of contacts between Wessex (south-central England) and western Britain, and the identity and origin of those chosen for burial at Stonehenge. Were they all drawn from communities in the immediate environs of Stonehenge, perhaps representing a local élite, albeit one possessing significant connections much further afield? Or did some people – as well as the stones – move here from elsewhere?

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact

Stonehenge London 0 k m 400 N The assemblage of Neolithic cremated human remains from Stonehenge ... more Stonehenge London 0 k m 400 N The assemblage of Neolithic cremated human remains from Stonehenge is the largest in Britain, and demonstrates that the monument was closely associated with the dead. New radiocarbon dates and Bayesian analysis indicate that cremated remains were deposited over a period of around five centuries from c. 3000–2500 BC. Earlier cremations were placed within or beside the Aubrey Holes that had held small bluestone standing stones during the first phase of the monument; later cremations were placed in the peripheral ditch, perhaps signifying the transition from a link between specific dead individuals and particular stones, to a more diffuse collectivity of increasingly long-dead ancestors.

Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact