Jan 17, 2025 14:00:00

DNA analysis reveals women held power in pre-Roman Britain

A DNA analysis of around 50 Celtic Britons buried in southern England has revealed that women held power in Britain around the time of the Roman invasion of the country in 43 AD, according to a new study by a research team from Trinity College Dublin and other institutions.

Continental influx and pervasive matrilocality in Iron Age Britain | Nature

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08409-6

Ancient genomes reveal an Iron Age society centered on women | Bournemouth University
https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/2025-01-15/ancient-genomes-reveal-iron-age-society-centred-women

Iron Age DNA Reveals Women Dominated Pre-Roman Britain : ScienceAlert

https://www.sciencealert.com/iron-age-dna-reveals-women-dominated-pre-roman-britain

A research team from Bournemouth University has been excavating an Iron Age site near the village of Winterbourne Kingston, nicknamed 'Duropolis,' since 2009. This time, the team sampled DNA from the remains of about 50 Celtic British people found at Duropolis.

DNA samples were sent to a team at Trinity College Dublin for analysis, and the findings revealed that more than two-thirds of the members of large kinship groups who lived before and after the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43 had a single female ancestor, and that 80% of the unrelated individuals buried there were male.

'Using DNA analysis, we reconstructed a family tree with many different branches and found that most members could trace their lineage back to a single woman who lived centuries ago. In contrast, we found very few paternal connections,' said Lara Cassidy, a geneticist at Trinity College Dublin. 'Our findings suggest that in Iron Age Britain, husbands would migrate to join their wives' communities when they married, and that descent could be passed down through the female line.'

'This is the first time that a system of men marrying women has been uncovered in European prehistory, highlighting the social and political empowerment of women. While such practices are relatively rare in modern society, they may not have been uncommon in ancient Britain,' Cassidy said.

During the Roman invasion of Britain, a woman named

Boudica reportedly led a rebellion against the Roman Empire. The Roman historian Dio Cassius wrote that 'the most fearsome of all was the army of Boudica, who plundered two cities and killed 80,000 Romans and their allies . All these destructive acts were led by one woman.'

'The Romans may have exaggerated the freedom of British women to portray Britain as a primitive society,' said Miles Russell, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University. 'But modern archaeology and genetics suggest that British women had a strong influence in many areas of Iron Age life. In fact, maternal ancestry may have been a major factor in shaping group identity.'