New archaeological and genetic research reveals that women held significant power in Iron Age Britain, around 2,000 years ago. Findings indicate a matrilocal society, where men moved to their wives' communities upon marriage, and land potentially passed down through the female line. This unprecedented discovery in European prehistory suggests women's social and political influence.
Around 2,000 years ago, before the Roman Empire conquered Great Britain, women were at the very front and center of Iron Age society., more than two-thirds were descended from a single female ancestor. Meanwhile, 80 percent of the unrelated family members were male.
To compare what was found at Dorset to the rest of Britain, Cassidy and her fellow geneticists at Trinity sifted through the DNA database of dozens of other Iron Age archaeological sites, scattered across the island. They can tell that because mitochondrial DNA is inherited exclusively through the maternal line. In a Yorkshire cemetery from the Iron Age, for example, one dominant matriline dated back to before 400 BCE.
Even still, the Romans were no doubt flabbergasted by such a female-dominated structure, where women may have inherited property or been able to divorce.
History IRON AGE BRITAIN WOMEN MATRILOCAL SOCIETY
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