Stonehenge may have been a prehistoric health centre rather than an astronomical observatory or a shrine to the dead, archaeologists said yesterday.

New evidence unearthed during the first excavation at the World Heritage Site in more than 40 years suggests that the monument was a place of healing to which the diseased and injured flocked, seeking cures.

After a two-week dig, archaeologists have concluded that Stonehenge was “the ancient A&E of southern England”, or a prehistoric Lourdes, because of the existence of “bluestones” — the smaller columns of white-spotted dolerite that formed an earlier stone structure.

The findings were announced by Tim Darvill, of Bournemouth University, and Geoff Wainwright, president of the Society of Antiquaries, who headed the “keyhole” exploration of a previously untouched area of turf spanning 8ft (2.5m) by 11ft 6in.

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Professor Darvill said: “We've actually managed to rewrite whole sections of Stonehenge's history from those very small excavations.”

By dating fragments of charcoal to around 7330BC, they have also found that hunter-gatherers were at the site on Salisbury Plain 4,000 years earlier than thought. The first phase of Stonehenge, a circular earthwork enclosure, was built around 3000BC.

Professor Wainwright, a former chief archaeologist for English Heritage, added: “I did not expect the degree of complexity we discovered in the trench. We're able to say so much more about when Stonehenge was built and why — all of which fundamentally changes our perspective of the monument.”

The research sheds new light on the importance of the henge's famous bluestones. Hundreds of bluestone chips gathered at the site have led the team to conclude that the bluestones were revered for their healing properties — the key reason that about 80 of them, each weighing up to 4½ tonnes, were dragged more than 150 miles from the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire to Wiltshire. After years of research in Pembrokeshire, Professors Darvill and Wainwright have concluded that, for thousands of years, the Preseli mountain range was home to magical healing centres and holy wells.

Even today there are those who believe in the healing powers of the springs for coughs and heart disease, and people who use crystals and bluestones for self-healing.

Radiocarbon tests have also revealed that the construction of the original bluestone circle took place around 2300BC, three centuries later than originally thought.

That date coincides with the death of the “Amesbury Archer” — a sick traveller from the Swiss or German Alps who had an infected kneecap and an abscessed tooth — whose remains were discovered about five miles from Stonehenge. The professors believe that he was a pilgrim who was hoping to benefit from the healing powers of the monument.

Funding for the exacavation was provided by Smithsonian Networks and BBC Timewatch, whose documentary, Stonehenge Deciphered, will be aired on BBC2 on Saturday.

NOT SET IN STONE

Astronomical observatory In the 1960s — the astronomer Gerald Hawkins showed that the stones formed a pattern of alignments with lunar and solar events

Shrine to sun worship — Early in the 20th century the astronomer Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer demonstrated that the northeast axis aligned with the sunrise at the summer solstice

A temple for Druids or Romans — Suggested in the 17th and 18th centuries. But neither Druids nor Romans were around until long after Stonehenge was completed

Landing site for extraterrestrials — Claimed sightings of UFOs in the area convinced some that it was an alien landing site

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