The influence of thermal treatment of alumina substrates on the growth of small supported gold particles was investigated. The alpha Al2O3 ((1) over bar 012) surfaces were previously annealed in a vacuum at 1100 K and 2000 K. The crystallographic structure was tested by reflection high energy electron diffraction and atomic force microscopy techniques. The substrate surface annealed at 2000 K exhibited a (2 x 1) reconstruction while the substrate surfaces annealed at 1100 K had the (1 x 1) structure. The gold was deposited on Al2O3 surfaces at 500 K and 550 K. The granulometric parameters of the gold deposits were determined by the analysis of transmission electron microscopy micrographs. The results showed that the growth kinetic was different according to the thermal annealing treatment of the substrate. They were interpreted by nucleation and growth theory in relation to a variation of the adsorption energy of metal atoms on the Al2O3 surface resulting from a structure modification during annealing.