Recent DNA analysis of approximately 50 Celtic British individuals buried in southern England has uncovered significant insights into gender roles in Iron Age society. Conducted by a research team from Trinity College Dublin and Bournemouth University, the study indicates that women held considerable power around the time of the Roman invasion in 43 AD.
The excavation took place near Winterborne Kingston, at a site known as Duropolis, where the research team has been active since 2009. DNA samples from the remains were sent to Trinity College for analysis, revealing that over two-thirds of the individuals in a large kinship group traced their ancestry to a single woman. Furthermore, 80% of the individuals without familial ties to these groups were male.
Lara Cassidy, a geneticist at Trinity College, stated, "We reconstructed family trees based on DNA analysis, discovering that most members traced their lineage back to a woman who likely lived centuries earlier. In contrast, paternal connections were rarely found. These findings suggest that in Iron Age Britain, husbands may have moved to their wives' communities, with lineage passed through female ancestry."
This research is the first to demonstrate a system where men married into women's families, highlighting women's social and political empowerment in prehistoric Europe. Cassidy noted that while such customs are rare in modern society, they may not have been uncommon in ancient Britain.
The Roman invasion of Britain is historically associated with Boudica, a woman who led a rebellion against the Roman Empire. Roman historian Dio Cassius documented that Boudica’s forces ravaged two cities and killed 80,000 Romans and their allies, all led by a single woman.
However, Bournemouth University archaeologist Miles Russell cautioned that ancient Romans may have exaggerated the freedoms of British women to portray pre-invasion Britain as primitive. Modern archaeology and genetics, he argued, suggest that women in Iron Age Britain held significant influence across various domains, with maternal ancestry potentially playing a crucial role in group identity.