ABSTRACT
This study has ranged over almost five centuries, discussed the lives of perhaps a hundred women and looked at the archaeological remains of thousands more. It began in Iron Age Britain and dashed briefly into the mists of Celtic Ireland and western Europe before planting itself firmly among the Roman matronae of Britannia. We have met women riding chariots and women buried with chariots; governors’ wives and shopkeepers, virgins and prostitutes. We have been with them as they went to the baths wrapped in cloaks which were later stolen, and entered temple precincts to make offerings to gods. We have seen them eat, drink, live, pray and die. It is time now to put the pieces of the picture together.
