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Key figures

Origin and history

Leoppidum de la Pierre d This 2.5-hectare site, protected by natural ramparts and cliffs, was occupied from the Middle Tena (La Tene C2/D1) until the Gallo-Roman era. Two main entrances, north and south, structure the barred spur, reinforced by a ditch and a palisade.

The excavations, initiated in 1967 by a TV transmitter project, revealed a wooden Celtic bridge of the 1st century BC (La Tene D2) at the foot of the plateau. The site was listed as a historic monument in 1969 and was the subject of archaeological campaigns until 1981. The discoveries include wine amphora, dolia, and 37 habitat-related structures, attesting to distant trade and aristocratic occupation.

The archaeological furniture (17 000 tesses, Campanian ceramics, lance iron, slags) evokes a diverse society: warriors, craftsmen (bronziers, blacksmiths), and elites consuming italics. In the Gallo-Roman era, the site housed a place of worship covered with tegulae. Its name would come from a "cupule stone" called stove stone, while the historic appellations (camp des Gaulois, château des Sarrasins) reflect local legends.

Ceramic studies (1982, 2010) confirmed Mediterranean exchanges via Italian amphora and B-oid ceramics. The excavations also exhumed a burial (14b) and manufacturing failures of gossip, Gaulish coinage analyzed in 2004. The transition between Iron Age and Romanization, with a defensive reorganization in the Gallo-Roman era, is illustrated by the oppidum.

The toponymy of the site, which varies according to the times (camp of Répy, castle of the Swedes), bears witness to its symbolic charge. Alain Deyber's publications (1972–2004) and collaborations with Lorraine's SRA documented its architecture, metallurgy, and role in Celtic commercial networks. Today, the site remains a marker of Vosges protohistoric heritage.

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