An analysis of pottery production in ancient Phoenicia reveals not only the land division into city-states in Hellenistic times, but also the blending in individual periods of the multifarious cultural influences reaching in from the western coast of Asia Minor, the Aegean, North African coast and Italy. The native Phoenician tradition clearly loses in significance with the arrival of the Romans in the East.

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The seaside settlement of Jiyeh in Lebanon, now identified with the ancient Porphyreon, boasts a history dating back to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age when Phoenicia occupied part of the Levantine coast (eastern Mediterranean). Extensive archaeological excavations by a team from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw have focused on the urban residential quarter, which consists of numerous houses and buildings separated by passages, containing material that has provided important insights into the lives of its inhabitants over time. However, as archaeobotanical studies had not been conducted there before, the question of plant use remains an important and largely unknown area of research. This article presents the first botanical results from Jiyeh (seasons 2009–2014) and considers their implications for future cooperation between archaeologists and natural scientists.

The ruins of the ancient village of Chhim, located in the mountains near Sidon, constitute an exceptional case of a well-preserved rural archaeological site in Lebanon. Chhim has been researched in depth thanks to recent excavations. The sanctuary from the Roman period, the Christian basilica, residential buildings, and numerous oil presses provide an account of a settlement whose livelihood was based on agriculture and animal husbandry—all while remaining in close contact with other coastal Mediterranean settlements. The relatively high and stable level of prosperity of Chhim's inhabitants contrasted with technological stagnation and the retention of traditional building techniques—both characteristic of the mountainous regions of ancient Phoenicia.

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