#duropolis

[durotrigan]

Durotriges ‘23

[yo-sostenible]

Así lo revela un estudio publicado este miércoles en ‘Nature’, en el que se describe por primera vez una estructura social, política y económica denominada “matrialocalidad”, en referencia al alto estatus e influencia de las mujeres. Las mujeres de ciertas sociedades de  Gran Bretaña en la Edad de Hierro gozaron de altos niveles de empoderamiento, hasta el punto de que la tierra se heredaba a través de la línea sucesoria femenina y los maridos se trasladaban a vivir a las comunidades de sus esposas. La investigación, liderada por expertos genéticos del Trinity College Dublin (Irlanda) y arqueólogos de la Universidad de Bournemouth (Reino Unido), pone el foco en el yacimiento de un cementerio de la tribu celta de los Durotriges situado en el condado de Dorset, al sur de Inglaterra. Los científicos analizaron secuencias de ADN de varios miembros de esa única comunidad para obtener hasta 50  genomas de un camposanto que permaneció activo antes y después de la conquista romana de esa zona de Gran Bretaña en el año 43 a.C. La reconstrucción del árbol genealógico del clan familiar hallado en el cementerio confirmó que el “linaje materno de la mayoría de los miembros se remontaba a una sola mujer que habría vivido siglos antes”, mientras que las relaciones a través de la línea paterna eran “casi inexistentes”, explica en un comunicado Lara Cassidy, principal autora del trabajo. “Esto nos dice que los maridos se trasladaban a las comunidades de sus esposas al casarse, y que la tierra posiblemente se transmitía a través de la línea femenina. Esto es relativamente raro en las sociedades modernas, pero tal vez no siempre haya sido así”, señala la genetista del Trinity College. Esta “matrialocalidad”, destacan los expertos, no era exclusiva del área de Dorset. Al comparar sus datos con anteriores estudios genéticos de la Edad de Hierro, constataron que esta organización social se repetía en otras comunidades de Gran Bretaña. Por ejemplo, en el condado de Yorkshire, al norte de Inglaterra, se detectó la existencia de una línea materna dominante antes del 400 a.C., lo que sugiere que “se trataba de un fenómeno muy extendido y con profundas raíces en la isla”, agrega Dan Bradley, coautor del estudio. Aunque los cementerios de la Edad de Hierro en buen estado de conservación no abundan, los de los Durotriges de Dorset son una excepción gracias a las singulares costumbres funerarias de esta tribu celta. En el yacimiento bautizado como “Duropolis”, excavado cerca de la localidad de Winterborne Kingston desde 2009, los investigadores han observado en ese sentido que las tumbas más sofisticadas pertenecían a mujeres. Más allá de las evidencias que aporta la arqueología, casi todo lo que se sabía hasta ahora sobre la Edad de Hierro en Gran Bretaña provenía de los historiadores griegos y romanos, a quienes “no siempre se considera como los más fiables”, apunta Miles Russell, coautor y director de la citada excavación. “Dicho esto, sus observaciones sobre las mujeres británicas son interesantes a la luz de estos hallazgos. Cuando llegaron, los romanos se sorprendieron al ver que había mujeres en puestos de poder. Dos de los primeros gobernantes citados fueron reinas, Boudica y Cartimandua, quienes comandaban ejércitos”, indica el arqueólogo. Se sostiene a menudo, recuerda Russell, que los romanos exageraron las libertades de las que gozaban aquellas mujeres para reforzar “la imagen de una sociedad indómita”, pese a que la arqueología, y ahora la genética, subrayan que tenían “gran influencia en muchas esferas de la vida”. “De hecho -agrega-, es posible que la ascendencia materna fuera el factor principal que configuraba las identidades grupales”. Asimismo, los científicos sostienen que estas sociedades celtas tenían un “profundo conocimiento” sobre su propia genealogía, por el que promovían matrimonios múltiples entre ramas familiares distantes para evitar la endogamia.  Fuente: El Desconcierto.cl

[blueiscoool]

2000-Year-Old Tombs With Five Bodies Discovered in U.K.

Archaeology students have uncovered the 2,000-year-old remains of five bodies on land close to Britain's earliest recorded town.

The historic burial ground which dates to around 100BC, was discovered by university undergraduates on farm land at Winterborne Kingston, near Blandford.

The site is thought to have been an outcrop of the prehistoric town of Duropolis, named after the local Iron Age tribe the Durotriges.

The town, which was discovered in 2008, was older than Colchester and Silchester, which had been regarded as Britain's earliest towns.

The oval shaped settlement of four roundhouses on the outskirts of Duropolis was later abandoned by the group of 40 people who lived there.

Decades later their descendants returned and ceremoniously laid to rest their dead.

The bodies were interned in ditches, originally used to store grain, along with sacrificial animals given as an offering to their pagan gods.

The one acre burial ground was found by students of Bournemouth University last September.

After months of planning and research, excavations began three weeks ago.

So far they have found the remains of three women and two men buried on the site consisting of around 75 ditches, between 3ft and 8ft deep.

They will help to build a 'unique and unparalleled picture' of life for the Iron Age people.

Dr Miles Russell, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University, said: "Iron Age settlements have been found across the country before but finding the people who lived there is really very unique.

"This is such an unusual site because Iron Age people did not tend to bury their dead but here in Dorset it was very different.

"We can see that people in Dorset buried their dead but we have no idea why. These skeletons are providing a whole range of information that you would not find anywhere else in the country.

"Along with the 50 other skeletons we have found in the area over the last decade, they help us to build an unparalleled data set." The oval shaped settlement was built around 100 years before the Roman invasion of Britain.

The pits were originally used to store grain but repurposed as burial units after the farmstead was abandoned in around 30BC.

The discovery sheds new light on the unique burial rites of Iron Age settlers in Dorset.

As an offering to their pagan gods, relatives of the dead placed animal sacrifices beneath their bodies at the bottom of the ditches.

Dr Russell said: "The bodies we found here were buried after the site was abandoned between 30AD and 10AD - the eve of the Roman invasion.

"They were probably descendents of the people who used to live at the farmstead and were taken there to be close to their ancestors. "The pits were originally used to store grain or as cold stores for food. We think they are just a sample of what's beneath the surface and we hope to find more bodies in the coming weeks.

"This would have been quite a small settlement, effectively a prehistoric suburb of the larger Duropolis. We'll do DNA analysis of the skeletons to see how closely related they were to bodies we have found elsewhere in the area.

"We're hoping to slice through time to establish lines of descent, interpersonal relationships, and common ancestry.

"One we're finished, we'll rebury them back in the landscape they would have known.

"This work will give us a vital understanding of ordinary people and their everyday lives and religious practices.

"At the bottom of the pits are sacrificed horses and cows. They were cut into sections and a torso of a cow would have the head of a horse attached to it.

"It is a strange macabre jigsaw of sacred animals offered to their gods. This is information we just would not find anywhere else."

First discovered in 2008, Duropolis was a huge open occupation seen for miles around, at a time when hillforts were still common.

It is the largest unenclosed settlement yet uncovered in the UK and had more than 150 roundhouses in an area of four hectares, as well as storage facilities, animal pens and agricultural outbuildings.

The site shows that towns weren't introduced by the Romans, as many people believed, but existed at least 100 years before they invaded.

The newly-unearthed farmstead is roughly half a mile to the north west of Duropolis.

Once the 65 undergraduates have finished at the current site, they will use sophisticated technology to scan the surrounding areas for further archaeological structures.

[ancientoriginses]

Arqueólogos y estudiantes de la Universidad de Bournemouth en Inglaterra encontraron una antigua aldea celta en Duropolis, llamada así por la tribu Durotriges de la Edad de Hierro Celta

[updatesnews]

Archaeology: Researchers left stunned by 2000-year-old Iron Age death pit: ‘Frankly bizarr | Science | News

Archaeology: Researchers left stunned by 2000-year-old Iron Age death pit: ‘Frankly bizarr | Science | News

The oval shaped storage pits are thought to have originally been used to hold grain. Five humans in total were discovered in the pits, which is located in present-day Dorset. The Iron Age settlement has been dubbed Duropolis due to it once being a thriving farming settlement and is thought to have been occupied by the tribe known as the Durotriges. Over the last three weeks, the team of 65…