Manching

Large oppidum of the late Iron Age in Bavaria, Germany, near Ingolstadt, dated to the La Tène period c 200 BC. It was one of the largest oppida in Europe. Manching, at that time adjacent to the Danube, may have been a regional market. The defense was an elaborate construction consisting of four-mile-long walls built of timber and stones and including four gateways. The organization of the settlement was preplanned, with streets up to 30 feet wide and regular rows of rectangular buildings in front of zones containing pits and working areas; other areas were enclosed for granaries or horse stalls. The site was divided into work areas for particular crafts, such as wood, leather, and iron working. Coins were minted and used on the site. There is evidence of a violent end to the settlement c 50 BC.

An oppidum near Ingolstadt, Bavaria, southern Germany, dating to the Middle La Tène period, 2nd-1st centuries BC. This enormous site covered some 380 hectares, enclosed by a rampart 7 km long of murus gallicus type. Large-scale excavations in the interior have revealed areas of housing and workshops, with streets running between them. A wide strip immediately inside the rampart was left free of buildings and may have been used for pasturing stock. Manching was clearly both a manufacturing and a trading centre. Crafts practised include iron-working, glass-making, the minting of coins, the working of amber, stone and bone, and some pottery manufacture. Textiles and leather goods were also produced. Pottery made here was exported widely throughout central Europe and long-distance trade is attested by the presence of imported fine wares from the Mediterranean world. Although no public buildings were found in the excavations, they may exist in the large part of the site still unexcavated. On the basis of the size of the site and the evidence for craft specialization and extensive trade, it seems reasonable to classify this settlement as of urban, or at least proto-urban, status.