London, April 10 : Archaeologists carrying out an excavation inside the ring at Stonehenge have reached sockets that once held bluestones, which scientists believe may finally explain why the site was built, and whether it was once a place of healing.

Professor Tim Darvill of Bournemouth University, one of the project leaders, says that the team now needs to excavate organic material from these holes to determine when the stones first arrived.

"The first week has gone really well. We have broken through to these key features. It is a slow process but at the moment everything is going exactly to plan," the BBC quoted Darvill, who is leading the work with Professor Geoff Wainwright, president of the Society of Antiquaries, as saying.

The archaeologist duo believes that unearthing more facts regarding the history of the bluestones may help unravel the mystery behind the creation of the 4,500-year-old landmark.

Apart from the bluestone sockets, the team has also unearthed a whole host of other finds as they have peeled back the layers of the 2.5m-by-3.5m trench, which include a beaker pottery fragment, Roman ceramics and ancient stone hammers.

ANI