The first Londoner (20-100 AD)
The ‘Harper Road Woman’ was thought to be alive when the Romans first invaded Britain in 43AD, although it is unclear whether she settled in London before or after it was reclaimed in 60AD after the invasion of Boudica. She was thought to have brown eyes and dark hair and was aged between 25 and 36 when she died. Possibly the most interesting thing about this woman is the categorisation of her sex (sex as in gender not sexy sex!): while her skeleton is definitively female, her chromosomes are male. As a result of the discovery scientists now look at gender as a spectrum as opposed to defined categories. Harper Road Woman was buried with carefully chosen objects, such as an imported bronze mirror and pottery, to define her status.