Surprising power of Celtic women and daughters revealed

It appears that 2,000 years ago, women in Britain passed land and property to daughters, not sons, because communities were built on the basis of women’s lineage, according to new research.

Skeletons found in Dorset contained DNA evidence that Celtic men moved to live with their wives’ families and communities.

Scientists have found evidence that for generations an entire community has formed around a family’s female lineage, which probably originated from a single woman.

“This points to an Iron Age society in Britain where women had considerable influence and could shape its trajectory in many ways,” says Dr Lara Cassidy of Trinity College, Dublin, lead author of the research. “

This is the first time that this evidence of communities forming around women has been documented in ancient European history.

Scientists believe that communities also invested heavily in their daughters because they would likely inherit their mother’s status.

“This is relatively rare in modern societies, but may not always be the case,” says Dr. Cassidy.

The team found evidence that this happened in several places in Britain, suggesting that it was on a large scale.

The communities analyzed lived around the same time that the warrior queen Boudica led a rebellion against Roman invaders in East Anglia around AD 61.

Dr. Cassidy sequenced DNA taken from the bones of 57 individuals from a tribe called Durotriges. People lived at Winterbourne Kingston, Dorset from around 100 BC to 100 AD.

The skeletons were excavated from a graveyard by a team of archaeologists from Bournemouth University.

By tracing mitochondrial DNA, which is only passed on by women, Dr Cassidy discovered that most of the women in the community were related by blood dating across generations.

In contrast, there was great diversity in the Y chromosome, which is passed from father to son, indicating that men from many different families intermarried within the community.

DNA analysis also suggests that most of the paternal lineage can be traced back to a single woman.

The work indicates that this society was known as matriarchal – meaning that a married man went to live in his wife’s community.

Dr. Cassidy says, “The most obvious benefit for a woman is that if you don’t leave the house, you don’t leave your support network. Your parents, siblings, family members are still around you. “

She adds, “It is your husband who is coming, he is a stranger to the community and he is dependent on your family for his livelihood and land.”

The researchers also found evidence of the same matrilocality in bones from other cemeteries, including Cornwall and Yorkshire.

Evidence of powerful women in ancient communities has often been dismissed for a time, she says, not the norm, but these findings challenge that thinking.

Archaeologists Professor Miles Russell and Professor Martin Smith found other evidence that women enjoyed high status.

“We find graves decorated with high-status wealth items,” says Professor Martin Smith at Bournemouth University. “Every time we find this, it’s in women’s graves, so we think the wealth is going through the female line.” Was being transferred down.”

The findings also support Roman writings of the time which suggest that women in Britain were significantly more powerful than in Rome.

But Romans like Julius Caesar saw it as a sign of backwardness.

Professor Miles Russell says, “Women had power in Britain and it was a more egalitarian place. This was the biggest problem the Romans had with Britain because Rome was a deeply patriarchal society. To them, it made Britain the ultimate barbarian.” Marked as.” Bournemouth University.

Most societies today are patriarchal, meaning women move into their husbands’ communities.

But some matrilineal communities exist today or in the recent past, including the Akans of Ghana, West Africa, and the Cherokee in North America.

Scientists say Iron Age Britain may have been matriarchal because men often stayed away from fighting.

Dr Cassidy compared this to the Second World War when women gained more political and economic power.

She adds that matrilocal societies are also less likely to experience internal conflict.

She suggests, “It can foster feelings of unity between neighboring communities and villages. It disperses groups of related men, allowing groups of related men to develop stronger loyalties and help nearby related men Prevents starting fights with.”

The findings have been published in the scientific journal Nature.

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