Early history and Antiquity thumb|The Celts built the mighty fortress of Menosgada on the Staffelberg Fossil finds show that the region was already settled by primitive man, Homo erectus, in the middle Ice Age about 600,000 years ago. Probably the oldest human remains in the Bavarian part of Franconia were found in the cave ruins of Hunas at Pommelsbrunn in the county of Nuremberg Land.Die Höhlenruine von Hunas , Archäologisches Lexikon, retrieved 17 June 2014. In the late Bronze Age, the region was probably only sparsely inhabited, as few noble metals occur here and the soils are only moderately fertile.Hans-Peter Uenze, Claus-Michael Hüssen: Vor- und Frühgeschichte. In: Handbuch der Bayerischen Geschichte, begr. von Max Spindler, 3rd vol., 1st sub-vol.: Geschichte Frankens bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts, re-published by Andreas Kraus, 3rd, revised edition, Munich, 1997, pp. 3–46, here: pp. 17ff. In the subsequent Iron Age (from about 800 B.C.) the Celts became the first nation to be discernible in the region. In northern Franconia they built a chain of hill forts as a line of defence against the Germani advancing from the north. On the Staffelberg they built a powerful settlement, to which Ptolemy gave the name oppidum Menosgada,Josef Motschmann: Altenkunstadt - Heimat zwischen Kordigast und Main. Gemeinde Altenkunstadt, Altenkunstadt, 2006, p. 10 and on the Gleichberge is the largest surviving oppidum in Central Germany, the Steinsburg. With the increased expansion of Rome in the first century B.C. and the simultaneous advance of the Elbe Germanic tribes from the north, the Celtic culture began to fall into decline. The southern parts of present-day Franconia soon fell under Roman control; however, most of the region remained in Free Germania. Initially, Rome tried to extend its direct influence far to the northeast; in the longer term, however, the Germanic-Roman frontier formed further southwest.Peter Kolb, Ernst-Günter Krenig: Unterfränkische Geschichte. Von der germanischen Landnahme bis zum hohen Mittelalter., Vol. 1. Würzburg, 1989; second edition: 1990, pp. 27–37.
Early history and Antiquity thumb|The Celts built the mighty fortress of Menosgada on the Staffelberg Fossil finds show that the region was already settled by primitive man, Homo erectus, in the middle Ice Age about 600,000 years ago. Probably the oldest human remains in the Bavarian part of Franconia were found in the cave ruins of Hunas at Pommelsbrunn in the county of Nuremberg Land.Die Höhlenruine von Hunas , Archäologisches Lexikon, retrieved 17 June 2014. In the late Bronze Age, the region was probably only sparsely inhabited, as few noble metals occur here and the soils are only moderately fertile.Hans-Peter Uenze, Claus-Michael Hüssen: Vor- und Frühgeschichte. In: Handbuch der Bayerischen Geschichte, begr. von Max Spindler, 3rd vol., 1st sub-vol.: Geschichte Frankens bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts, re-published by Andreas Kraus, 3rd, revised edition, Munich, 1997, pp. 3–46, here: pp. 17ff. In the subsequent Iron Age (from abo,ut 800 B.C.) the Celts became the first nation to be discernible in the region. In northern Franconia they built a chain of hill forts as a line of defence aga?inst the Germani advancing from the north. On the Staffelberg they built a powerful settlement, to which Ptolemy gave the name oppidum Menosgada,Josef Motschmann: Altenkunstadt - Heimat zwischen Kordigast und Main. Gemeinde Altenkunstadt, Altenkunstadt, 2006, p. 10 and on the Gleichberge is the largest surviving oppidum in Central Germany, the Steinsburg. With the increased expansion of Rome in the first century B.C. and the simultaneous advance of the Elbe Germanic tribes from the north, the Celtic culture began to fall into decline. The southern parts of present-day Franconia soon fell under Roman control; however, most of the region remained in Free Germania. Initially, Rome tried to extend its direct influence far to the northeast; in the longer term, however, the Germanic-Roman frontier formed further southwest.Peter Kolb, Ernst-Günter Krenig: Unterfränkische Geschichte. Von der germanischen Landnahme bis zum hohen Mittelalter., Vol. 1. Würzburg, 1989; second edition: 1990, pp. 27–37.