The Thracian land was a very attractive place for the ancient Greeks and their economic expansion. At the
end of the 5th century BC, the Greek inland emporion, known as Pistiros, was founded on the upper Maritsa
River in inner Thrace, today south‑central Bulgaria. More than twenty‑five years of successful international
cooperation of archaeology with environmental sciences has revealed the existence of a very important
commercial centre with connections in the Thracian and the Aegean regions. The study summarizes the
current state of research on the urbanized settlement and the river port. The environmental investigation,
including the combined archaeobotanical and chemical analyses of organic residues in ceramics assessed
here, as well as geomorphological research, contribute to a better understanding of the socio‑economic
development of this unique archaeological site in Thrace