Cupule stone return

On the west of the Villard, is located a carved rock or called a « Pierre à cupules » (cupule stone). This bloc of sandstone of thin grain, a triangular form measure 1.80 meters at his longest dimension. On the surface, we can count up to sixty isolated cupules that measure from 2 to 9centimetres.Others cupules are the end points of figures, the most representative being two ploughs, a cross, a man…Around this carved rock, spreaded on the ledge, we can find seven other rocks of smaller dimension, having cupules as well but no representations on them. The meaning of some representation, like the set itself, is unknown for now. « Les Pierres à Cupules » (coming from Latin « small cup ») or the bowls are erratic blocks, even often rocks or rocky outcrops on which some half-hemispherical cavities have been graved, more or less digged. These cavities are most of the time on the upper face of the rocks. It doesn’t matter which megaliths these cupules are on, they are generally placed on the slope exposed to the sun and on dominating places. These « Pierre à cupules » are all around Europe, mostly in the northern provinces and we can find them as far as India. There are a lot in Rhône-Alpes ; were they used for astronomical initiation, for ritual ceremonies (cupules) or sacrifices (bowls) ? A lot of historians are left guessing what it really is about but we can place their origin in the Neolithic (between -5000 and -2500 BC), prehistory period marked by deep social and technical mutation, linked to the adoption by groups of human to an economy of production based on the agriculture and the cattle breeding implying most of the time settling down. The principal technical innovations are the generalization of the rock-polished tools. The Feissons-sur-Salins rock is of an exceptional quality.

Located at 1260 meters, you can find the city office, a bar/restaurant and a bed and breakfast. It is possible to visit the Saint Maurice church (Baroc style) and to discover the « pierre à cupules » (cupule rock) and to walk on the paths around the village.The inhabitants of Feissons are called the « Feissonnais ». Feissons probably comes from the latin word « fagus » which means beech. It’s an evolution of the word « Faisse » which is a place where there is a big beech. In the Middle-Age documents, it is sometimes written « Feyssonis » or « Foissé ». The city is facing the south, forming a spur dominating the Moûtiers Valley (the Croix de Feissons which is at 1503 meters and downhill the Bozel Valley above the steep area of copse overhanging the road from Melphe to the Frasse, ancient provincial road). This panoramic viewpoint, giving a good point of view to discover the four valleys joining in Moûtiers, may explain the presence of a carved stone at « La Charpine », west of « Le Villard » comparable to the one in « La Vallée des Merveilles » in the Mercantour and the « Val Camonica » in Lombardy. The parish of Feissons was attached to the abbey of Saint-Maurice d’Agaune and we don’t know when this dependence ended. Dedicated to Saint-Maurice, the actual church was built during the 18th century. Despite the small territory, the livestock in 1561 was quite large : 110 cows, 21 « moges », 29 « mogeons », 13 calves, 77 goats and 370 sheep. Back in these days, the presence of three draft ox showed the importance of farming. The exposure favoured the cereal farming.