Two field walking surveys undertaken in 2010 and 2011 revealed the remains of the first Petits-Blancs settlements west of the Mafate cirque in the Plaine-aux-Sables.
Archive documents mention a Petit-Blanc farmer requesting permission to settle in this area of the Plaine-aux-Sables in 1839. The last inhabitant, whose grave can still be seen, died in 1948. Traces of a century of occupation were found in four completely separate areas where several structures, some built in dry stone, remain.
The first area is composed of terraces to the northeast of the plain. A second group, to the south of the first group, contains stone alignments, probably the bases of buildings, and some surface earthenware portable finds. The third group, opposite the first, is a small case or hut in sheet metal, which is still standing, and a series of small terraces behind it. The fourth, located on the slopes overlooking the plain, contains several circular and square structures covered by low vegetation.
