Remarkable evidence that women in British Iron Age society were empowered politically and socially has been unveiled in an international genetic study led by researchers at Trinity College Dublin.
Their analysis of ancient burial grounds suggests husbands moved to join their wives’ communities upon marriage, with land potentially passed down through the female line.
The researchers seized upon a rare opportunity to sequence DNA from many members of a single community in Dorset, joining forces with archaeologists from Bournemouth University to decipher the structure of their society. They retrieved more than 50 ancient genomes of individuals – their complete set of genes – from burial grounds in use before and after the Roman conquest of AD 43.
TCD geneticist Dr Lara Cassidy, who led the study published by Nature on Wednesday, said: “This was the cemetery of a large kin group. We reconstructed a family tree with many different branches and found most members traced their maternal lineage back to a single woman who would have lived centuries before. In contrast, relationships through the father’s line were almost absent.
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“This tells us that husbands moved to join their wives’ communities upon marriage, with land potentially passed down through the female line. This is the first time this type of system has been documented in European prehistory, and it predicts female social and political empowerment. It’s relatively rare in modern societies, but this might not always have been the case.”
This type of social organisation, termed “matrilocality”, was not restricted to Dorset. They sifted through data from prior genetic surveys of Iron Age Britain and, though sample numbers from other cemeteries were smaller, saw the same pattern emerge repeatedly.
Co-author Prof Dan Bradley of TCD, who specialises in population genetics, added: “Across Britain we saw cemeteries where most individuals were maternally descended from a small set of female ancestors. In Yorkshire, for example, one dominant matriline had been established before 400 BC. To our surprise this was a widespread phenomenon with deep roots on the island.”
Iron Age cemeteries with well reserved burials are rare in Britain. Dorset is an exception due to the unique burial customs of local people, named the “Durotriges” by the Romans.
Excavation director Dr Miles Russell said beyond archaeology knowledge of Iron Age Britain has come mainly from Greek and Roman writers, who were not always trustworthy. “That said, their commentary on British women is remarkable in light of these findings. When the Romans arrived they were astonished to find women occupying positions of power. Two of the earliest recorded rulers were queens – Boudica and Cartimandua – who commanded armies.”
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