Around 2,000 years ago, before the Roman Empire conquered Great Britain, women were at the very front and center of Iron Age society.

Iron Age Britain may have been more feminist than many people believe, a study has found. Queens during this time, such as Boudica and Cartimandua, are famed for their leadership, political nous and violence. However, it was previously thought these female leaders were rare exceptions.

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

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,

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.

Some scholars have suggested that the Romans exaggerated the liberties of women on the British Isles to imply that this was a more uncivilized society. However, this genetic and skeletal evidence implies that women were likely influential and could have been shaping group identity through matrilineal lines.

Ancient DNA analysis has revealed that an Iron Age community in Dorset, England, was centered around bonds of female-line descent.

Land was inherited through the female line in Iron Age Britain, with husbands moving to live with their wife’s community

Scientists analyzing 2,000-year-old DNA have revealed that a Celtic society in the southern U.K. during the Iron Age was centered around women, a study said.