I am interested in what types of jobs women did in Celtic villages. I know they would look after their children and their family, but what else? Alexandria (8)

Hi Alexandria,

There were many other jobs apart from looking after children that women – and men – would have had to do to keep a Celtic village going, such as food preparation, making and repairing clothing, tools and other equipment, and looking after livestock.

There are records of powerful women who acted as priests and leaders, the most famous of whom in the UK is perhaps Boudicca. But in truth, although we perhaps assume that men and women had very different roles in these societies, we don’t actually have all the evidence. Personally I think that although it is likely that women did look after children – certainly when the children were small – many of the basic jobs of surviving were probably shared to a certain extent.

From Ian the Archaeologist