Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (415 page)

A defined place where people periodically gather together at predetermined times for the purchase and sale of goods, livestock, services, or commodities of various kinds within the structure of a
MARKET ECONOMY
. From Greco-Roman times onwards such activities usually took place in fairly elaborate surroundings, often in the centre of towns and cities. Throughout medieval Europe settlements were constructed around market-places which took on other social functions too.

 
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An economic system based on a mode of exchange in which the price of a commodity is fixed by the relative proportions of supply and demand. The process of buyer–seller exchange requires a degree of social control, for instance to guarantee access to goods and the security of traders. This is often achieved through the institutionalization of markets through regulation of the time and place where they take place. The prices are fixed independently, usually through negotiation, although participation in a market may require the payment of taxes to those who control the market.

 
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A building designed for use as a market, usually in the centre of a settlement within or adjacent to a market-place. Many market houses were built on pillared arcades with an open area at ground-floor level and a large room or hall above.

 
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See
MARKET
.

 
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See
HOPEWELLIAN CULTURE
.

 
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Name traditionally given to the Iron Age communities occupying a large area of northeastern France centred on the Marne valley in the later 1st millennium
bc
. They used a distinctive form of burial rite that in some cases involved depositing a chariot in the grave. There were close connections between the Marne region groups and the Arras Culture of eastern Yorkshire.

 
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