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

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.

The Iron Age burials of powerful women revealed land and leadership may have been passed down through a mother’s line, new research says. Bournemouth University When the Romans reached Britain in the first century,