A female-centric order has been found for the first time in European prehistory by scientists who analyzed DNA from burial grounds in southwest England.
Archaeologists from Bournemouth University, together with geneticists from Ireland’s Trinity College Dublin, made the discovery by analyzing 50 genomes from remains found in burial grounds in the county of Dorset. The site dates to the Roman conquest of BCE 43.
The results, which were published in the science journal Nature, suggest the community who once lived there was the first in Europe centered around a female line of descent.
“This was the cemetery of a large kin group,” Dr Lara Cassidy, assistant professor at Trinity’s genetics department, said. “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.”
“This tells us that husbands moved to join their wives’ communities upon marriage, with land potentially passed down through the female line,” she added. “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.”
Dr Miles Russell from Bournemouth University, who directed the dig, said the cemetery belonged to the “Durotriges” community. Previous excavations found that Durotrigan burial sites boasting richer furnishing were female graves.
“Beyond archaeology, knowledge of Iron Age Britain has come primarily from the Greek and Roman writers but they are not always considered the most trustworthy,” Russel explained. “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.”
The researchers also discovered from other genetic surveys of Iron Age Britain that this “matrilocality” – a social system where a married couple lives with or near the wife’s parents – was not restricted to Dorset. “Across Britain we saw cemeteries where most individuals were maternally descended from a small set of female ancestors,” said Dan Bradley, a professor of population genetics at Trinity’s genetics department. “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.”
