Jay Silverstein, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Forensics, Nottingham Trent University
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.
The researchers present a genetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is matrilineally inherited (from the mother), and Y-chromosome DNA, which is patrilineally inherited (from the father). The DNA comes from human remains taken from a late iron age cemetery (circa 100BC - AD100) of the Durtriges tribe in Dorset.
The researchers discovered a continuous line of descent of mtDNA, which contrasted sharply with the varied Y-chromosome markers. That means that the bodies in the graveyard all shared DNA on the women's side, but not the men's side.
This led them to the conclusion that the tribe practised matrilocal marriages. That is, the men came to live with the women's family, who stayed in the same location for generations.
When the authors compared their data to other iron age sites, they found that matrilocal marriages were common among the tribes. While this does not necessarily infer a matriarchal society, in which women were the primary decision-makers, it is a practice that supports the matrilineal inheritance of wealth, land and status.
The power of this analysis is its ability to pull together ancient textual accounts, linguistic studies and archaeological data to create a fuller understanding of our past. But it's also a reminder that our present is plagued by prejudices and misconceptions about human history.
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News reports about the study have called it "jaw-dropping". But considering the well-known power and military accomplishments of Celtic queens such as Boudica of the Iceni (circa AD30-AD60) and Cartimandua of the Brigantes, the results should not have been surprising.
If historic accounts were more honest, the find would have been received as a confirmation of the role of women in iron age Britain. Instead, it is being framed as a breakthrough that contradicts the innate assumption of patriarchy in history.
Read more: Uncovered after 2,000 years: gold torcs fit for an Iron Age queen
What has often been assumed to be an innate natural division in warfare (men fighting, women staying behind) is actually a male-centric perception of history.
I first presented on this topic at Penn State University during the 1996 gender and resistance conference. I quoted the then-speaker of the US House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.
Giving a lecture on "renewing American civilization" January 7 1995, Gingrich had said: "If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for 30 days because they get infections. They don't have upper body strength. I mean, some do, but they're relatively rare." He also said that "males are biologically driven to go out and hunt giraffes".
Despite significant progress on many fronts, this kind of misogyny borne of historic misconceptions is still entrenched in society, right up to the highest levels of government.
Pete Hegseth, the current nominee for the US secretary of defence, wrote in his book The War on Warriors (2024) that: "There are examples in history of women in combat roles. But one is hard pressed to find many outside of religious or mythical settings that have anything close to a positive military outcome."
He added: "Unlike the mythologies of great Amazonian Warriors in the Greek mythology, most of the world's accounts of women in war were connected to seductive and sexual power."
At a certain level, these statements can be interpreted as referencing the sexual dimorphism of our species. That is, the statistical contrast of size and strength in post-pubescent men and women based on genetic differences between males and females.
But if it were merely that a level of physical performance was required for someone to become a warrior, then any candidate who could pass a physical test would be eligible without regard to gender.
Warrior women through history
History is actually rife with examples of woman warriors. Accounts of conquistadors from the 16th century describe the Aztec women, the Native American women of Alabama and the women of the Tupinamba of Brazil as warriors.
The west-African kingdom of Dahomey, meanwhile, was known for its core of 5,000 fierce women warriors whom the British colonialists called Amazons. The true Amazons of Greek myth, who Hesgeth assumed have no basis in reality, can be attributed to the Scythians and Sarmatian female cavalry of the ancient Eurasian Steppe nomads.
The list of historic women warriors illustrates how such identities are determined more by cultural circumstances than genetic limitations.
Today the significant contributions of women warriors in Ukraine, Israel and the US military are breaking down preconceived misogynistic notions of power. Data-driven studies like this one show that the status and power of women in ancient Britain differed significantly from the Victorian ideals of femininity that still prevail today.
Studies like this, that illuminate a past where women held equal or elevated status, help normalise equality. Importantly, they undermine those who attempt to call upon history or divine design as a justification for misogynistic policies.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.