A BATTLE of the sexes has broken out over suggestions that a fearsome tribe of warrior women roamed the Ribble Valley more than 1,800 years ago.

It was sparked by the discovery on the Russian Steppes of graves of female warriors believed to be the Amazons of Greek mythology.

And the question now being asked is - did the female descendents of these Sarmatian sword-wielding woman serve in the Roman army at Ribchester?

Ribchester Roman Museum curator Mr Patrick Tostevin believes the village's Roman garrison was definitely a men only affair.

He said: "Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius conquered modern day Hungary and brought 5,500 Sarmatian troops to Britain in AD 175.

"They were split into 11 garrisons and 500 were stationed in Ribchester. "They were auxiliary troops in the Roman army and the majority would have been men.

"There is no reference on the tombstones in Ribchester to women.

"In their own society the women may have been better off, but the Roman army was very male dominated."

The Roman settlement at Ribchester was for veteran soldiers and remained on the banks of the River Ribble for around 200 years.

In The Daily Mail, American archaeologist Jeannine Davis-Kimball said she would have been surprised if women were among the Sarmatian troops brought over to Northern Britain to defend Hadrian's Wall.

The discovery of the graves has caused excitement in the archaeological world and is real evidence of the link with the warriors in Greek mythology.

Weapons, including bronze arrowheads, short daggers and long swords, were found in the graves.

The discovery is believed to confirm reports by Greek historian Herodotus, who wrote about encountering a tribe of female warriors during his travel to the Black Sea in 450BC.

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