Prehistoric women wore the trousers at Stonehenge rituals

Carbon dating showed the remains were buried at Stonehenge between 3090BC and 2900BC
Carbon dating showed the remains were buried at Stonehenge between 3090BC and 2900BC
PAUL ROGERS/THE TIMES

Women had equal rights at Stonehenge, a fresh study of bones first excavated nearly a century ago has found.

More than 45kg of cremated remains were recovered in the 1920s from a ring of seven holes where stones once stood.

New analysis has found they are the bones of at least 27 people including five children. Of the remains, 14 were females, nine were males and the others were undetermined.

The archaeologists who carried out the study said their discovery disclosed a surprising degree of gender equality compared with other neolithic burial sites in southern Britain.

They said prehistoric women might have played an equal role with men or they might even have been in charge of proceedings at the monument.

Christie Willis, a researcher