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.

The social fabric of Iron Age Britain, spanning roughly from 800 BC to AD 100, has long puzzled historians and archaeologists. Recent breakthroughs in genetic analysis are now shedding light on the lives and social structures of these ancient communities.

Around 2,000 years ago, before the Roman Empire conquered Great Britain, women were at the very front and center of Iron Age society. Researchers have sequenced the genomes of around 50 Celtic Britons buried together in southern England and uncovered strong evidence of female-line descent.

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.

Women were at the centre of social networks in Iron Age British Celtic communities, research in this week’s Nature suggests. The analysis of 2,000-year-old DNA reveals evidence for matrilocal Celtic societies,

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