Stonehenge, seen here in an undated photo, marked the location of a cemetery for ancestor-worshiping ancient Britons, according to new archaeological studies.

Radiocarbon dating of cremated human remains indicates people were buried at the monument for at least 500 years, from its inception around 3000 B.C. until the first large sandstone blocks were raised.

Project leader Mike Parker Pearson of the University of Sheffield, in the United Kingdom, said the finding supports his theory that Stonehenge represented the domain of the dead.

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