The research, led by Trinity College Dublin working with archaeologists from the University of Bournemouth, was supported by researchers at the University of Bristol.

The structure of human societies is shaped by where married couples tend to reside; patrilocality is where partners predominantly reside with or near the families of the male, whereas in matrilocal societies, the couples live near the female’s parents.

Patrilocality is the most common system observed in European Neolithic, Copper and Bronze Age sites. However, archaeological evidence suggests that Celtic societies may have given women high status; for example, the Durotriges tribe, who occupied the central southern English coast around 100 BC to AD 100, buried women with valuable items. Genetic data analysed by Dr Lara Cassidy at Trinity College Dublin and colleagues support this theory.

The authors analysed the genomes of 57 individuals buried in Iron Age cemeteries associated with Durotrigian communities in southern Britain.

They discovered that most individuals were related through the maternal line and that unrelated individuals found in the cemetery were predominantly male (assumed to have migrated to the area after marriage).

Dr Cassidy and colleagues also compared the ancient DNA from Britain with other European sites (such as France, Netherlands, or Czechia) spanning over 6,000 years.

These analyses offer insights into population movements, identifying connections between British Iron Age populations and populations from continental Europe.

The evidence indicates that there was persistent cross-channel cultural exchange, which may have influenced local cultures and possibly introduced Celtic languages.

These insights provide a deeper understanding of ancient British societies and their connections with continental Europe, the authors conclude.

Co-author Dr Daniel Lawson, Associate Professor in Data Science at the University of Bristol, said: “We inherit much of our understanding of the ancient world from limited literary sources with strong cultural biases. Genetic and archaeological information shows that women inherited land and influence in Iron Age Britain, reopening interpretations of what the Romans wrote about them."

Paper

'Continental influx and pervasive matrilocality in Iron Age Britain' by L.M. Cassidy, M. Russell, M.Smith, G. Delbarre, P. Cheetham, H. Manley, V. Mattiangeli, E.M. Breslin, I. Jackson, M.McCann, H. Little, C.G. O'Connor, B. Heaslip, D. Lawson, P. Endicott and D.G. Bradley in Nature