BATH, England – Roman writers are said to have remarked on the striking empowerment of Celtic women, noting how certain tribes buried women with significant grave goods. Now, groundbreaking research provides new evidence supporting these accounts, revealing a society where land inheritance passed through the female line and husbands moved into their wives’ communities—practices that hint at female influence in political and social life.
A study published in Nature and led by geneticists from Trinity College Dublin, in collaboration with archaeologists from Bournemouth University, marks the first time such a female-centric social system has been documented in European prehistory. By sequencing the DNA of over 50 individuals from ancient burial grounds in Dorset, the researchers discovered that Iron Age communities were primarily organized around maternal descent.
The researchers noticed that DNA diversity was lower in remote areas, suggesting tightly knit communities where women remained in their birth villages after marriage, reinforcing the practice of matrilocality.
“This was the cemetery of a large kin group,” explained Dr. Lara Cassidy, Assistant Professor at Trinity College. “We reconstructed a family tree with many branches and found that most members traced their maternal lineage to a single woman who lived centuries earlier. In contrast, paternal connections were almost nonexistent.”
Durotrigian burial of a young woman from Langton Herring sampled for DNA (c) Bournemouth University. She was buried with a mirror (right panels) and jewelry, including a Roman coin amulet showing a female charioteer representing Victory.[Courtesy: Bournemouth University
Cassidy added that the findings suggest husbands moved to join their wives’ families, with property potentially passed down through the female line. “This type of system, known as matrilocality, predicts female social and political empowerment. It’s rare today but may have been more common in the past.”
Even more surprising, this matrilocal pattern wasn’t limited to Dorset. The team found similar evidence of dominant maternal lineages elsewhere by re-examining genetic data from other Iron Age cemeteries across Britain. Dan Bradley, Professor of Population Genetics at Trinity and a co-author of the study, noted: “In Yorkshire, for instance, a dominant matriline had been established by 400 BC. This wasn’t an isolated case—it was widespread across the island.”
Iron Age burial sites in Britain are rare, but Dorset stands out thanks to the well-preserved remains of a people known to the Romans as the Durotriges. Excavations near the village of Winterborne Kingston, at a site nicknamed “Duropolis,” revealed that women were often buried with richer grave goods than men.
Dr. Miles Russell, the excavation’s director and a co-author of the study, pointed out that historical sources have long painted a picture of powerful Celtic women. “Roman writers were astonished to find women holding positions of authority. Two early rulers, Boudica and Cartimandua, even led armies. Although ancient sources may have exaggerated these accounts to portray the Celts as wild and untamed, our findings show that women likely played key roles in many areas of life.”
Anthropologist Dr. Martin Smith, who worked on analyzing the skeletons, said the study offers a new perspective on ancient burials. “Instead of just seeing skeletons, we can now glimpse aspects of these people’s lives—mothers, husbands, daughters. Their society had a deep understanding of ancestry, with marriages often arranged between distant relatives, though close inbreeding was avoided.”
Further supporting the idea of female-led social structures, the researchers uncovered signs of migration into southern England during the Iron Age. This discovery bolsters ongoing debates about when Celtic languages first arrived in Britain. Dr. Cassidy explained: “While some suggest Celtic languages arrived during the Bronze Age, our data show significant cross-channel migration during the Iron Age too. It’s possible that Celtic languages came to Britain more than once.”
These findings, echoing ancient texts and modern archaeological evidence, paint a fascinating picture of a society where women were central to community life and identity. As Cassidy concluded: “These results provide a rare glimpse into the social fabric of Iron Age Britain. It’s clear that female lineage played a critical role in shaping their world.”
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