Celtic Graves Uncovered Women-Led Tribe In Ancient Britain

The activities and cultures of people who lived during the British Iron Age have remained more mysterious compared to some other parts of the world and other periods. One reason for this is that it's rare to find well-preserved graves in the country because, rather than preserving the bodies, pre-Roman Britons often left the deceased open to the elements, dug up corpses, and took decomposing body parts. However, one Celtic tribe had unique burial customs, allowing archeologists to discover a community that was matriarchal instead of patriarchal, which has challenged preconceptions that Roman stories exaggerated women's liberties in British society during the late Iron Age.

In a paper published in Nature in 2025, researchers from Bournemouth University and Trinity College Dublin reveal finding "an extended kin group [of the Durotriges tribe] centered around a single maternal lineage," which they determined with the DNA genome analysis of more than 50 samples. Study lead and assistant professor of Trinity's Department of Genetics Dr. Lara Cassidy explained in a press release, "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."

These findings indicate that husbands left their homes to join the communities of their wives after marriage. This matrilocal pattern defied the norm, putting women at the center of economic and social power, and is the first documented system of its kind in European prehistory. Also, it lends some truth to the writings of Greek and Roman authors — who are largely considered untrustworthy — about their astonishment at how British women were in positions of power. On top of that, it solidifies the importance of studying human DNA genetics in learning about human history.

Since the Durotriges Project begain in 2009, so much has been discovered about this Celtic tribe. In addition to analyzing the human genome DNA sequence types from burial grounds in Dorset, England, for instance, researchers have found numerous artifacts. The archeologists observed that the Durotriges tribe's burials of women were more richly furnished with valuable items, such as mirrors, jewelry, and coin amulets. Like the real-life tomb discovered under an Indiana Jones filming location, the objects provide a window into how the Durotriges tribe lived.

In 2024, the archeologists found evidence that the Durotriges tribe adapted to the Roman conquest, which started around A.D. 43, and actually integrated some Roman traditions to enhance or improve their lives. Some students unearthed a grave containing two female skeletons, for instance, and with them were Roman-style wine cups and a wine flagon (a container for serving liquids) made by a local potter. While the women were buried in a fetal position on their sides, as was tradition for the Durotriges, a man in another grave was buried in a more Roman way with chest-folded arms in a coffin and numerous iron nails. The Roman-style burials had fewer artifacts than the Durotriges, too, which indicates that the Celtic people weren't thriving from the Roman world despite adopting some of their traditions.