Cilaos: the Vallée Secrète

The "Vallée Secrète" site is located in the Cilaos cirque. Discovered in 1995, it has remained intact and is a yardstick for the archaeology of marronnage on Réunion.

A refuge in an extreme location

Located in a valley that rises to an altitude of 2000 metres, the site is 10 metres wide by 35 metres long. Two built shelters have been found; they are square and have low walls that back onto the cliff and are divided into two spaces measuring 8.75 m² and 3.5 m². Built from blocks found in the adjacent ravine, they are partly sheltered by the overhanging cliff.

Archaeological discoveries

Two excavations in 2011 and 2012 revealed successive layers of occupation and a central hearth in each shelter where hundreds of animal bones were also found. Meals mostly consisted of the meat of young Barau petrels, supplemented by pork and cabris marrons – marron kids. Petrels were only present in the valley early in the year, so the site must have been a seasonal camp.

Among the few artefacts discovered were nails, fragments of flint, shards of iron and part of a clay pipe. ICP-MS and OSL analyses were done on the object, dating its last lighting to between 1809 and 1835. The Vallée Secrète was therefore used in the early 19^th century, before the abolition of slavery in 1848. The extraordinary and unusual discovery of this undisturbed habitat probably used by marrons provided the starting point for a major area of archaeological research on Réunion.