The Nördlinger Ries has been a very attractive site for human settlement from Paleolithic times forward.

The valley of the Danube had abounded with game, and many caves in the slopes of the crater provided shelter for Neanderthals and their successors.

The Ries has always been densely populated.

From 450 to 15 BCE, Celtic peoples had built their settlements on the tops of the hills.

Remains of Celtic ring walls and sanctuaries can be found all over the region.

They had been replaced about CE 90 by the Romans, who had secured the region by building forts and the Limes (which was some kilometers north of the present district).

In about 250, the Alamanni, a coalition of Germanic tribes from beyond the Limes Germanicus, drive the Romans from the modern area of Donau-Ries.