Integrated geophysical studies were carried out over several years, at Mandeure-Mathay (Franche-Comté Region, Eastern France) for the archaeological evaluation of ancient Epomanduodurum. The site is of major scientific interest to understand the territorial structure of earlier agglomerations in Eastern Gaul at the end of the Iron Age and during the Roman period. As regards its size, urban equipment, monuments and function, the ancient town is considered rating second behind the civitas capital of Sequani, Besançon-Vesontio. It is located in the Doubs valley, where the plain of Alsace opens into the marches of Burgundy, in a traffic zone between the Vosges and the Jura. This location allows transit between the Rhône valley and the Rhein plain, through the Saône and Doubs valleys. This geographical situation was a significant factor in the creation of the late Iron Age settlement, later to turn into a major Gallo-roman town. The whole site of the Ancient town includes urban centre and two artisan suburbs. The buried ruins stretch on more than 500 hectares outside and inside a meander of the Doubs River.
From the beginning of the survey, in 2001, high resolution and non invasive geophysical methods were performed on large scale, both on the terrace and in the floodplain. Automatic Resistivity Profiling (ARP) and magnetic mapping covered areas of respectively 60 and 40 hectares (Fig. 1) Ground penetrating radar was occasionally used to confirm the detection of specific anthropogenic anomalies…