page_title: Oppidum of Manching
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Oppidum of Manching / The settlement / Life at Celtic Manching / Economy
caption_attribution_description: Celtic find in Manching, Germany (NOT rainbow-staters/keine Regenbogenschüsselchen [1])
context_page_description: The Oppidum of Manching was a large Celtic proto-urban or city-like settlement at modern-day Manching, near Ingolstadt, in Bavaria, Germany. The settlement was founded in the 3rd century BC and existed until c. 50-30 BC. It reached its largest extent during the late La Tène period, when it had a size of 380 hectares. At that time, 5,000 to 10,000 people lived within its 7.2 km walls. Thus, the Manching oppidum was one of the largest settlements north of the Alps. The ancient name of the site is unknown, but it is assumed that it was the central site of the Celtic Vindelici tribe.
context_section_description: Manching was the site of an extensive iron industry, which mainly produced goods for local use. The iron ore was extracted in the region. Products included a variety of specialised tools, clearly indicating a lively craft tradition. Manching was a centre of production for glass beads and bracelets, most of them of blue glass. There was also a developed production of pottery, jewellery and textiles.
  Finds like Baltic amber and Mediterranean wine amphorae show that Manching was part of trade networks spanning all of Europe. Further evidence is provided by luxury tableware (campana), bronze vessels and imported jewellery.
  Trade was facilitated by the fact that Manching had its own mint. A local system of coinage, including small silver coins (quinarii) and impure bronze ones served mainly internal trade. External trade relied on coins of gold and (from the early 1st century BC onwards) silver. Like much Celtic coinage, the gold coins minted at Manching are distinctively concave, even cup-shaped, (in German, such coins are traditionally known as Regenbogenschüsselchen or rainbow cups, a term derived from the belief that they are connected with the treasure to be found at the foot of a rainbow). False coinage, e.g. bronze coins with a thin gold covering, has also been found. Fine weighing scales were used to monitor the authenticity and value of coins.
  The large variety of keys and locks from the settlement is remarkable. They indicate that people had property worth protecting, and that the cohabitation of so many people in a small area made physical measures necessary to that effect. Different locks appear to have been used for gates, doors, or furniture.
caption: A hoard of Celtic coins (Regenbogenschüsselchen) found at Manching. See below: Important finds.
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