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.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied