Roman writers found the relative empowerment of Celtic women in British society remarkable, according to surviving written records. New DNA research from the University of Bournemouth shows one of the ways this empowerment manifested—inheritance through the female line.

A new DNA-based study challenges the conventional understanding that Iron Age Britain society was dominated by men.

New DNA analysis reveals women's central role in Iron Age Britain, uncovering a matrilineal society that shaped social and political power.

A groundbreaking study reveals evidence that, in Iron Age Britain, land inheritance followed the female line, with husbands relocating to live within their wives' communities. This marks the first documented instance of such a system in European prehistory.

An international team of geneticists, led by those from Trinity College Dublin, has joined forces with archaeologists from Bournemouth University to decipher the structure of British Iron Age society,

The site belonged to a group the Romans named the “Durotriges,” researchers said, and this ethnic group had other settlements, including a site near Dorset nicknamed “Duropolis” by the archaeologists who work there.

Researchers have uncovered genetic evidence suggesting that ancient Celtic societies in Iron Age Britain were matrilineal and matrilocal, with women holding status and influence.

Some scholars have suggested that the Romans exaggerated the liberties of women on the British Isles to imply that this was a more uncivilized society. However, this genetic and skeletal evidence implies that women were likely influential and could have been shaping group identity through matrilineal lines.

Archaeologists discovered evidence of the women-led society in Europe at a rare Iron Age site in southwest England.

Real authority behind most decision-making rested with female leaders such as Boudica, say academics

Land was inherited through the female line in Iron Age Britain, with husbands moving to live with their wife’s community

A scientific study with important implications for archaeology in Britain and France was published last week. Using ancient DNA analysis and testing, a team led by Dr Lara Cassidy and Professor Daniel Bradley from Trinity College Dublin successfully demonstrated that iron age people who were buried in Dorset from 100BC to AD100 practised matrilocality.