Geophysical Investigations to Study the Celtic Open Settlement of la Peyrouse (Dordogne, France)

Summary Since 2019, geophysical archeological surveys conducted in the Celtic and Gallo-roman site of La Peyrouse (Dordogne, France) within the collective regional program RAPSODIE and a PhD research. The aim of this study is to explore, investigate and document an unfortified economic center dated from the 3rd century BC setting extensive near-surface techniques, particularly geophysical surveys. While excavating large-scale sites such as open Celtic settlements is a challenge for archaeologists, this protocol provides a quick understanding of the site. After five campaigns, the total area mapped in La Peyrouse with a manual geophysical system amounts to 12 ha. Numerous archaeological structures such as a craft production area, a religious building, a presumably public place, and other buried remains of the settlement were detected and mapped. Excavations on high-potential areas previously selected by geophysical surveys thus allowed an integrated archaeological interpretation. The compilation of data has provided new information on this large open agglomeration. This considerably increases our knowledge of this type of habitat still poorly known in Celtic Europe.