Ancient DNA suggests women were at the heart of social networks in Celtic society in Britain

Genetic evidence from a late Iron Age cemetery in southern Britain shows that women were closely related while unrelated men tended to come into the community from elsewhere, likely after marriage. The study published Wednesday in the journal Nature shows that female family ties were central to the organization of Celtic society in southern Britain before the Roman invasion. Researchers studied ancient DNA from 57 graves in Dorset in southwest England. They found that two-thirds of the individuals who lived between 100 B.C. and 200 A.D. were descended from a single maternal lineage. This pattern is historically rare.