Some of the bodies buried at Stonehenge came from hundreds of kilometres away in Wales, a new analysis of their cremated remains has found.
Fragments of bones from burials at the site in Wiltshire, UK, were first uncovered almost 100 years ago. Until now, it was assumed they were all individuals from the local area.
Radiocarbon dating of the remains had suggested that they were buried at around the same time as the first standing stones 鈥� Welsh bluestones 鈥� were erected at the site, around 3000 BC.
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Now, new developments in a technique known as strontium isotopic analysis have allowed Christophe Snoeck and his team from Vrije Universiteit Brussel to study the remains again. Their work suggests the individuals came from the same area as the bluestones.
Strontium isotopic analysis can tell researchers what foods someone was predominantly eating in the last decade before they died. Plants have different levels of strontium depending on the bedrock of the area they are grown in, and this can be read in the bones of the humans who eat them.
Previously it was thought that cremation destroyed isotope structures that could be used to assess diet and location. But Snoeck鈥檚 team found that intense heating effectively 鈥渟eals in鈥� some isotopic signatures.
Applying the technique to 25 of the cremated individuals at Stonehenge, the team found that at least 10 of them were not from the local area 鈥� their remains had strontium levels that were more consistent with an area of western Britain that includes Wales. This means they must have moved to Stonehenge in the last years of their lives, or were brought after death to be buried.
Remains of the pyre wood used to cremate the individuals can also be linked to west Wales, 250 kilometres away from the site.
Confirmation that some of the bodies come from elsewhere matches with findings during the original excavations that the cremated remains were deposited in leather bags, suggesting that they had been brought from a distant place for burial.
Co-author from University College London has previously excavated at Stonehenge. 鈥淭his is a really exciting discovery because it shows how far some of the Stonehenge people travelled,鈥� he says.
鈥淪ome of the people buried at Stonehenge might have even been involved in moving the stones.鈥�
Scientific Reports
Read more: Unearthed: Why we鈥檝e got monuments like Stonehenge all wrong
