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Origin and history

The hamlet of Rissergues is a medieval archaeological site located in the commune of Malbo, in the Cantal (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes). Dated around the year Mil, it illustrates a permanent agricultural occupation at high altitude (1,300 m) on the southern Planèze of the Lead du Cantal. The site, abandoned before the end of the 13th century, was revealed by archaeological excavations after a decade of regional prospecting, revealing more than 800 sites attesting to a human presence since Prehistory.

The hamlet consists of five semi-entered buildings, with dry stone walls and mud, typical of an architecture adapted to the mountain climate. The roofs, probably mixed (lauze and thatch), covered areas dedicated to housing and livestock. One of the buildings had a floor and an outside staircase, while another was a single dwelling. These structures reflect an autarchic agro-pastoral organization, characteristic of medieval rural communities.

Ranked a historical monument in 2013, the site is now protected and valued at events such as European Archaeology Days. The remains, well preserved, offer a rare testimony of peasant life in the Middle Central Ages, in an isolated environment of the Cantal Mountains. No source mentions any historical characters related to the site, nor any significant events outside of its gradual abandonment before the thirteenth century.

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