Society centered around women in UK during Iron Age: Scientists [View all]

Julius Caesar, in his account of the Gallic Wars written more than more than century earlier, also described Celtic women participating in public affairs, exercising political influence — and having more than one husband.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE / January 15, 2025



The painting "Boadicea Haranguing the Britons" by John Opie (1761–1807), depicting the warrior queen Boudica of the Iron Age. (Public domain/Wikipedia Commons via Courthouse News)

PARIS (AFP) — Scientists analyzing 2,000-year-old DNA have revealed that a Celtic society in the southern U.K. during the Iron Age was centered around women, backing up accounts from Roman historians, a study said Wednesday.

When historians such as Tacitus and Cassius wrote about Rome conquering Britain from around AD 44 to 84, they described women holding positions of power.

These include the famous warrior queen Boudica, who started an uprising against Roman occupation, sacking and burning several cities including Londinium — which would one day become London. There was also Cartimandua, the 1st century queen of the Brigantes people in northern England.

Julius Caesar, in his account of the Gallic Wars written more than more than century earlier, also described Celtic women participating in public affairs, exercising political influence — and having more than one husband.

"When the Romans arrived, they were astonished to find women occupying positions of power," said Miles Russell, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University and co-author of the new study in Nature.

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