Binary gender has long been considered a fundamental structuring principle of the European Bronze Age, its chiefly hierarchies and travelling warriors. The continental validity of this attribution has been further reinforced by recent revelations of migration and shared ancestry across Europe. Here, I reflect on the evidence from the geographic periphery – Ireland and Scotland. Variations and nuances in the evidence undermine the idea of universal binary gender and suggest more complicated human dynamics. Such findings hint that it might well be time to revisit binary gender and the very idea of a ‘European’ Bronze Age.