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

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 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.

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

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,

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

The social fabric of Iron Age Britain, spanning roughly from 800 BC to AD 100, has long puzzled historians and archaeologists. Recent breakthroughs in genetic analysis are now shedding light on the lives and social structures of these ancient communities.

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.

A scientific study with important implications for archaeology in Britain and France was published last week. Using ancient DNA analysis and

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

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.