Starting in 1983, an excavation campaign was launched on the part of the site belonging to the State. From the start, it was led by researchers from the UPR 290 of the CNRS (today known as UMR 5140—CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, Université Montpellier III, INRAP), and it continues to this day, in the form of successive triennial programs that were first launched in 1986.


From the very beginning, the team decided to strategically plan its interventions. These took the form of multiple, parallel research programs designed to investigate specific archaeological questions at each step. This was because the site was recognized to be extensive, and also because initial observations revealed a dense stratigraphy between three and five meters thick. Thus, over the years, complementary yet diverse themes were explored.These included the organization of the urban framework, the road network, the original urban formation process and subsequent urban development, the stratigraphy of the town, domestic units, construction techniques, the rampart and its evolution, the port structures, transformations during the Roman period, and the environment and regional context of the town.

2007 represented the 25th year of the excavation's campaign.