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Archaeology at Marly dates back to the 1860s and there were several seasons of work up to 2003. These excavations showed the important potential of the site. The Royal château, built at the end of the seventeenth century on open land and demolished at the beginning of the nineteenth century, was not replaced by another building. The foundations and basements remained, buried beneath rubble that contained a diversity of architectural elements and objects pertaining to daily life. The site is almost intact and the excavations, exceptionally, reveal only one archaeological level. Marly offers the possibility of archaeological research impossible in other châteaux, which have been occupied up to the present day. Another characteristic, also shared with the Château de Versailles, is the possibility of comparing the archaeology with abundant archives.Since 1 June 2009 the Domaine de Marly is, once again, under the direction of the Château de Versailles, thus opening up the possibility of new projects: a systematic policy of archaeological research before work is carried out continues that which was instituted in 2003. However, another approach is possible following the research of the twentieth century: that of planned excavations whose only aim is scientific and which benefit from a unique site. Its development would indeed benefit modern archaeology as well as the archaeology of gardens, two recent sciences that are expanding.