The marron hunter Caron gave his name to this sector of the Rivière des Remparts which rises to a height of 2,220 metres: Haut Bras Caron. An archaeological excavation was carried out in 2013 following the discovery of skeletal remains inside a rock shelter in this area with an unusual topography.
Shelter layout
The shelter is on the edge of a bank and measures 6.80 metres wide and 1.70 metres high. A low wall, built in the southern part, closes the shelter to the west. It is composed of blocks between 20 and 30 cm in diameter, without bonding or bracing. Although makeshift, it would have made an effective wind break.
Three test pits revealed a dump area at the back of the shelter, two hearths against the low internal wall and another combustion zone in the area not protected by the low wall but still under the natural porch.
Archaeological remains
Only two fragments of chert from flints or flint lighters and a nail shaft were found in the test pits. Some 300 skeletal remains were also found, shedding valuable light on the subsistence practices of the people who occupied the shelter – hunting and consumption of Barau petrels and marron kids – and the temporary nature of these human occupations since the remains of rodents and feral cats, which took advantage of the absence of human beings to use the area, were identified using archaeozoological techniques.
The remains do not tell us who occupied the shelter, however. Were they marrons, marron hunters or poachers? Probably all three, at different times.
