May 29, 2008Stonehenge stands out against night clouds set aglow by lights in nearby Amesbury town in an undated photo.

Archaeologists may have finally solved the enduring puzzle of the prehistoric monuments: They are giant tombstones of the dead, says a new study released today by the National Geographic Society. (National Geographic News is owned by the National Geographic Society.)

(See new photos of Stonehenge.)

Newly dated human remains unearthed at the megalithic circle in southern England reveal Stonehenge was a place of burial from its earliest beginnings some 5,000 years ago, said Mike Parker Pearson, who leads the Stonehenge Riverside Project. (Read full story.)

Parker Peason received funding for the project from the society's Committee for Resarch and Exploration.

We're looking at a long-term use of the monument for burying the dead, Parker Pearson said. It's something that we just didn't appreciate until now.

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