Interest in the environment of sanctuaries may be considered as a new field. From observations of a few instances of excavations and studies recently carried out in the East of France, we can draw up a brief catalogue of the approaches and protocols now being used, and from this derive lessons for the future. These examples show that environmental studies within a site are usually a matter of opportunism, without any systematic approach towards questions raised, or guidelines as to methods of sampling and analyzing. On the other hand, in several cases, the use of integrated multidisciplinary approaches, as parts of scheduled long-term research programmes, has produced significant advances in the recognition of the environment of several major sanctuaries and the understanding of their origins and development.