Other new evidence involves the so-called cursus, a cigar-shaped enclosure near Stonehenge that is nearly two miles long. Discovered in the 1700s, it was originally thought to be a Roman-era racetrack.
But excavations last year revealed a red deer antler pick that was used for excavating the chalky soil. Radiocarbon dating indicates the pick was used around 3630 BC to 3375 BC, about 500 years before the first burials at Stonehenge and 1,000 years before the first stones were erected, said archaeologist Julian Thomas of the University of Manchester.
Researchers have never found artifacts or remains inside the cursus, which indicates it was walled. That suggests something sacred or evil was associated with the site, Thomas said.
"Sanctified or cursed? We really don't know," he said.
Pearson noted that henges are scattered throughout England, but Stonehenge is by far the most impressive. Later henges are much smaller, more suitable for an extended family than a royal dynasty, he noted.
There was an authority that was able to mobilize thousands of people to produce Stonehenge, he said, "but sometime around 2400 BC that authority broke down. Perhaps the people rebelled and decided they weren't going to participate. There was a process of fragmentation" that continued until new dynasties were established three millenniums later.
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thomas.maugh@latimes.com
