MAILHAC Aude, France.
Some 20 km N of Narbonne, the oppidum of Cayla (altitude 144 m) near the village of Mailhac is an isolated link in a chain of hills connecting the Corbières with the Cevennes. Cayla contains the ruins of five superimposed villages, the first four of which were fortified. The rampart enclosed an area of ca. 6 ha.The chronology of the site appears to be as follows: Cayla I: 880-700 B.C.; Cayla II: 600-475 B.C.; Cayla III: 475-300 (?) B.C.; Cayla IV: 300 (?)-75 B.C.; Cayla V: 75 B.C-A.D. 200. The first imports (Etruscan and Greek) belong to the Cayla II settlement, but Greek ware is also represented in the next occupation periods. The first two cities had houses of wood and clay; those of the last three were built of stone at the base and of unbaked clay bricks above. The necropoleis and the 7th c. B.C. village spread out in the plain between the hill and the village, in the areas known as Le Moulin and Le Grand-Bassin.
The finds, including both native and imported pottery, are housed on the site, in the Taffanel Collection.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. Louis, O. & J. Taffanel, Le Premier âge du Fer Languedocien, 3 vols. (1955-60); O. & J. Taffanel, “Les civilisations préromaines dans la région de Mailhac,” Revue d'Études Roussillonnaises 5 (1956) 7-29, 103-30; id., “Deux tombes de chefs à Mailhac,” Gallia 18 (1960) 1-37.O. TAFFANEL