archaeology
The approximate location of Troy was well known from references in works by
ancient Greek and Latin authors. But the exact site of the city
remained unidentified until modern times. A large mound, called Hisarlik (or
Hissarlik) by the Turks, had long been known to hold the ruins of a city named
Ilion that had flourished in Hellenistic and Roman times. In 1822 Charles
McLaren suggested that this was the site of Homeric Troy, but for the next 50
years his suggestion received little attention from classical scholars, most of
whom regarded the Trojan legend as a mere fictional creation based on myth, not
history. The German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann deserves full credit for
adopting McLaren's identification and demonstrating to the world that it was
correct. In seven major and two minor campaigns between 1870 and 1890,
Schliemann conducted excavations on a large scale mainly in the central area of
the Hisarlik mound, where he exposed most of the remains of the Early Bronze
Age. After Schliemann's death in 1890, the excavations were continued (1893-94)
by his colleague Wilhelm Dörpfeld and later (1932-38) by an expedition from the
University of Cincinnati headed by Carl W. Blegen.
Before excavations began, the mound rose to a height of 105 feet (32 m) above
the plain. It contained a vast accumulation of debris that was made up of many
clearly distinguishable layers. Schliemann and Dörpfeld identified a sequence of
nine principal strata, representing nine periods during which houses were built,
occupied, and ultimately destroyed. At the end of each period when a settlement
was destroyed (usually by fire, or earthquake, or both), the survivors, rather
than clear the wreckage down to the floors, merely leveled it out and then built
new houses upon it.
The nine major periods of ancient Troy are labeled I to IX, starting from the
bottom with the oldest settlement, Troy I. In periods I to VII Troy was a
fortified stronghold that served as the capital of the Troad and the residence
of a king, his family, officials, advisers, retinue, and slaves. Most of the
local population, however, were farmers who lived in unfortified villages nearby
and took refuge in the citadel in times of danger. Troy I to V corresponds
roughly to the Early Bronze Age (c. 3000 to 1900 BC). The citadel of Troy I was
small, not more than 300 feet (90 m) in diameter. It was enclosed by a massive
wall with gateways and flanking towers and contained perhaps 20 rectangular
houses. Troy II was twice as large and had higher, sloping stone walls
protecting an acropolis on which stood the king's palace and other princely
residences, which were built of brick in a megaron plan. This city came to an
end through fire, and Schliemann mistakenly identified it with Homer's Troy. In
the "burnt layer's" debris were found a trove of gold jewelry and
ornaments and gold, silver, copper, bronze, and ceramic vessels that Schliemann
named "Priam's treasure." The burning of Troy II seems to have been
followed by an economic decline; each of the citadels of Troy III, IV, and V was
fortified and somewhat larger than its predecessor, but the houses inside the
walls were much smaller and more closely packed than in Troy II.
Troy VI and VII may be assigned to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (c. 1900 to
1100 BC). Troy at this time had new and vigorous settlers who introduced
domesticated horses to the Aegean area. They further enlarged the city and
erected a magnificent circuit of cut limestone walls that were 15 feet (4.5 m)
thick at the base, rose to a height of more than 17 feet (5 m), and had brick
ramparts and watchtowers. Inside the citadel, which was now about 650 feet (200
m) long and 450 feet (140 m) wide, great houses were laid out on ascending,
concentric terraces. Troy VI was destroyed by a violent earthquake a little
after 1300 BC. Dörpfeld had identified this stage as Homeric Troy, but its
apparent destruction by an earthquake does not agree with the realistic account
of the sack of Troy in Greek tradition. Moreover, the city's date, as indicated
by imported Mycenaean pottery found in the earthquake debris, is too early for
the Trojan War.
The survivors of the earthquake quickly rebuilt the town, thus inaugurating the
short-lived Troy VIIa. The ruins were leveled and covered over by new buildings,
which were set close together and filled all available space inside the
fortress. Almost every house was provided with one or several huge storage jars
that were sunk deep into the ground, with only their mouths above the level of
the floor. Troy VIIa probably lasted little more than a generation. The crowding
together of houses and the special measures to store up food supplies suggest
that preparations had been made to withstand a siege. The town was destroyed in
a devastating fire, and remnants of human bones found in some houses and streets
strengthen the impression that the town was captured, looted, and burnt by
enemies. Based on the evidence of imported Mycenaean pottery, the end of Troy
VIIa can be dated to between 1260 and 1240 BC. The Cincinnati expedition under
Blegen concluded that Troy VIIa was very likely the capital of King Priam
described in Homer's Iliad, which was destroyed by the Greek armies of
Agamemnon.
The partly rebuilt Troy VIIb shows evidence of new settlers with a lower level
of material culture, who vanished altogether by 1100 BC. For about the next four
centuries the site was virtually abandoned. About 700 BC Greek settlers began to
occupy the Troad. Troy was reoccupied and given the Hellenized name of Ilion;
this Greek settlement is known as Troy VIII. The Romans sacked Ilion in 85 BC,
but it was partially restored by the Roman general Sulla that same year. This
Romanized town, known as Troy IX, received fine public buildings from the
emperor Augustus and his immediate successors, who traced their ancestry back to
the Trojan Aeneas. After the founding of Constantinople (ad 324), Ilion faded
into obscurity.
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