Society centered around women in UK during Iron Age: Scientists

[Judi Lynn]

2. Iron age men left home to join wives' families, DNA study suggests

Nicola Davis Science correspondent
Wed, 15 January 2025 at 10:00 am GMT-6·3-min read

From Neanderthals to royal courts, history seems awash with women upping sticks to join men’s families, but researchers have found that the tables were turned in Britain’s Celtic communities.

Researchers studying DNA from iron age individuals in Britain have found evidence that men moved to join their wives’ families – a practice known as matrilocality.

Dr Lara Cassidy, first author of the research from Trinity College Dublin said the findings challenged assumptions that most societies were patrilocal, with men staying put.

“Potentially there are periods in time where matrilocality is much more common and that has really important knock-on effects for how we view women in the past and their roles and their influences in society,” she said.

From Neanderthals to royal courts, history seems awash with women upping sticks to join men’s families, but researchers have found that the tables were turned in Britain’s Celtic communities.

Researchers studying DNA from iron age individuals in Britain have found evidence that men moved to join their wives’ families – a practice known as matrilocality.

Dr Lara Cassidy, first author of the research from Trinity College Dublin said the findings challenged assumptions that most societies were patrilocal, with men staying put.

“Potentially there are periods in time where matrilocality is much more common and that has really important knock-on effects for how we view women in the past and their roles and their influences in society,” she said.

More:
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/iron-age-men-left-home-160044191.html