The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister, Stillwell, Richard, MacDonald, William L., McAlister, Marian Holland, Ed.

MAGALAS Canton of Murviel-les-Béziers, Hérault, France.

Oppidum on the hill of Montfo, near the modern village, and occupied from the 6th c. B.C. to the Roman period. The oldest dwellings explored are rustic, built of baked bricks, raw clay, or stone, and accompanied by storage pits dug in the soil. They have yielded a large quantity of first-class ceramics which testify to the important commercial role played by this little settlement throughout Iron Age II. In the 2d and 1st c. the settlement extended to the foot of the oppidum, where recent excavation has turned up stores of amphorae and carefully constructed buildings.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

M. Clavel, Béziers et son territoire dans l'Antiquité (1970) 69, 94; “Informations,” Gallia 6 (1948) 175-77^I; 24 (1966) 486^I; 27 (1969) 396; 29 (1971) 384; 31 (1973) 495.

G. BARRUOL