England's enigmatic Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings - perhaps for ancient kings or chieftains, researchers reported Thursday.

Radiocarbon dating of cremated remains shows that burials took place as early as 3000 B.C., when the first ditches around the monument were being built, said University of Sheffield archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson. Those burials continued for at least 500 years, when the giant stones that mark the mysterious circle were being erected, he said.

Parker Pearson heads the Stonehenge Riverside Archaeological Project, which has been excavating sites around the world-famous monument for five years. He said the burial patterns  support the idea that Stonehenge served as England's grandest Neolithic family cemetery.

"We're wondering if we're looking at the burial ground of an ancient royal dynasty," he told reporters.

He emphasized that Stonehenge was not exclusively a cemetery: The stone circle's orientation, which points to sunrises and sunsets on key seasonal dates, clearly shows it was a place of ceremony. And just last month, other researchers speculated that Stonehenge may have been an ancient place of healing as well.

Parker Pearson wouldn't rule out what he called the "healing hypothesis," but he said the idea that Stonehenge started out as a burial ground - and was used for that purpose for centuries - was on much firmer archaeological ground.

"It's important to remember that these kinds of stone monuments may well have had multiple meanings and understandings by the people themselves," he told msnbc.com. "Healing may have been a part of it, but I suspect that it's a very small part."