British researchers have a new theory for the origin of Stonehenge, stating that the site may have been created as a burial ground for elite families around 3,000 B.C.

The theory was proposed by a group of researchers from the UK led by Mike Parker Pearson of the UCL Institute of Archaeology. They conducted their study by analyzing 63 sets of human remains buried near the site. The findings suggest that family groups were buried there at a circular enclosure, a larger version of Stonehenge, built 500 years prior to the famous monument.

The study also indicated that up to 4,000 people traveled across Britain to reach the site over a period of about 10 years.

"Stonehenge was a monument that brought ancient Britain together," Pearson says. "What we've found is that people came with their animals to feast at Stonehenge from all corners of Britain - as far afield as Scotland."

Stonehenge was previously thought to have been built as an astronomical calendar or observatory. The new developments suggest that those who came to Stonehenge were more focused on the process of creating the monument, rather than whatever purpose it would serve.

"What we have discovered is it's in building the thing that's important," Pearson says. "It's not that they're coming to worship, they're coming to construct it."

Bluestones were brought to the site from Wales and placed there as grave markers around 3,000 B.C. The researchers claim it was then used as a graveyard for 200 years, with occasional burials taking place thereafter. It had been thought for many years that the Stonehenge burials included only women, but the new evidence suggests that men, women and children were buried there.

"At the moment the answer is no to extracting DNA, which might tell us more about these individuals and what the relationship was between them," Pearson says, "- but who knows in the future? Clearly these were special people in some way."