Women likely ruled in Stone Age China, DNA analysis of 4,500-year-old skeletons reveals

Two human burials, a series of four pots, and a map showing the location of two cemeteries in Neolithic China.

Women headed communities in eastern China about 4,500 years ago, a DNA analysis reveals.

While analyzing the ancient DNA of skeletons buried in Stone Age cemeteries in China, archaeologists discovered that the society was organized in an extremely rare way: Everyone belonged to one of two clans headed by women, and people were buried in their maternal clans for at least 10 generations.