Genomic evidence of female empowerment in the Iron Age

Jan. 15 () –

In a study to decipher the structure of the British Iron Age societygeneticists and archaeologists have found evidence of female political and social empowerment.

The researchers, led by those from Trinity College Dublin and Bournemouth University, took advantage of a unique opportunity to sequence the DNA of many members of the same community. They recovered more than 50 ancient genomes from a set of cemeteries in Dorset, southern England, that were used before and after the Roman conquest of 43 AD. The results, which are published in ‘Nature’, revealed that this community was focused on links of descent through the female line.

Dr. Lara Cassidy, associate professor in Trinity’s Department of Genetics, led the study. According to her, “this was the cemetery of a large family group. We reconstructed a family tree with many different branches and discovered that most of the members traced their maternal lineage to a single woman, who would have lived centuries before. On the contrary, the Relationships through the paternal line were almost non-existent. This indicates that husbands moved to join their wives’ communities when they married, and that land could be transmitted through the female line. This is the first time it has been documented. this guy system in European prehistory and predicts the social and political empowerment of women. It is relatively rare in modern societies, but it may not always have been this way,” she stated. in a statement.

Incredibly, the team discovered that this type of social organisation, called ‘matrilocality’, was not limited to Dorset. They analyzed data from previous genetic studies of Iron Age Britain and, although the number of samples from other cemeteries was smaller, They observed the same pattern emerging again and again.

Dan Bradley, Professor of Population Genetics in Trinity’s Department of Genetics and co-author of the study, reflects: “Across Britain we have seen cemeteries in which the majority of individuals were maternally descended from a small group of female ancestors. In Yorkshire, for example, a dominant maternal line had been established before 400 BC. To our surprise, it was a widespread phenomenon with deep roots on the island.”

Iron Age cemeteries with well-preserved tombs are rare in Britain. Dorset is an exception, due to the unique burial customs of the people who lived there, whom the Romans called “Durotriges”. The researchers took DNA samples from a site near the town of Winterborne Kingston, nicknamed “Duropolis”, which archaeologists from Bournemouth University have been excavating since 2009. Previously, the team had observed that the better decorated Durotrigan tombs were those of women.

Dr Miles Russell, director of the excavation and co-author of the study, comments: “Beyond archaeology, knowledge of Iron Age Britain comes mainly from Greek and Roman writers, but they are not always considered the more reliable. That said, his comments about British women are notable in light of these findings. When the Romans arrived, they were surprised to find women in positions of power. Two of the first recorded rulers were queens, Boudica and Cartimandua, who commanded armies. It has been suggested that the Romans exaggerated the freedoms of British women to paint a portrait of an untamed society. But archaeology, and now genetics, imply that women were influential in many spheres of Iron Age life. “In fact, it is possible that maternal ancestry was the primary factor shaping group identities.”

Following the writings of Julius Caesar, the researchers also discovered a trace of Iron Age migration to the south coast of England, which had not been detected in previous genetic studies. This will add fuel to the debates surrounding the arrival of the Celtic language in Britain.. Dr Cassidy summarizes: “Migration to Britain had already been detected during the Late Bronze Age, leading some to hypothesize that the Celtic language arrived during this period. But our results point to significant mobility to across the Channel also during the Iron Age. It will be difficult to pinpoint the time of arrival of Celtic. In fact, it is quite possible that Celtic languages ​​were introduced into Britain on more than one occasion.