Canakkale - Troy
Troy which has an Important position on the land of Anatolia where the civilization of the world has been born and had flourished has always attracted the interest of the archaeologists around the world for almost a hundred years. Iliad and Odysseus, two masterpieces in the world literature, tell about this city. The excavation which was started by Schliemann in 1870 was carried on by Dorpfeld and Blegen, and Korfmann has been continuing the diggings at present
Every year thousands of tourists have been coming to see this worldly-known famous city. Though a lot of books and articles have been published about Troy, still thinking that the publications which have Troy known to visitors are not enough, it urged us to prepare this book.This book was written by benefiting from all the scientific books and articles published in the last years related with Troy, excluding scientific terms for the visitors to understand easily. Our main purpose at writing this book is that Troy should be known not only by scientific world, but also it should give information to everybody who wish to recognize it
Especially Prof. Korfmann, the leader of the excavation team of Troy, with many important scientists of the world, have unearthed many secrets of Troy since 1988, therefore we got so many information from this research. We’d like to thank him for his contribution to Troy and to the world of archaeology. Besides we’d also like to thank the Çanakkale Directorate and their personnel that provide the protection for and take care of this antique city which is one of the most important cultural descendants of the world.
Trojan Culture Layers
The settlement which covers a very small space was constructed on the main land on a hill 27 m. high above sea-level. The diameter of the city was 90 meters at the beginning of the construction. Excavations showed that Troy-I was formed of 10 layers.
Troy-I (3000-2500 B.C)
As it was brought to light in the excavations, the city people dwelled in the well-protected settlement surrounded by the strong walls and towers since the beginning of the early Bronze Age. The city had a strong appearance because of colossal gates and towers. The walls were enlarged in ring shapes one inside the other just like the onion skin. This enlargement shows that the city was built again and again after being broken down. The debris of the construction-layers of Troy-I is 4.5 meters high. There were buildings which belonged to the king or prince just in the middle of the city. It is possible to see the main remains of those buildings side by side inside the Trojan-I walls; in fact they were restored later and were taken under protection. There was a portico in front of those houses, the foundations ot which were built with stones put side by side like fish-scales, and the roof-tops of which were made of sun-dried clay bricks and in some rooms there was a fire-place
The buildings In the middle were called ‘Megaron’, and they were the oldest patterns of the Aegean architectural plans, and this main plan of the classical Greek architecture was usedforthousands of years in the Aegean world.
The people of Troy-I had used bronze weapons and tools in addition to the stone tools which were polished. Bone tools, figurines, and baked potteries were excavated tog ether with a lot of disks which show that the textile work was improved highly. As the potter’s wheels were not known in Troy-I layer, potteries were made by hand Troy-I which was a coast-line city owing to its position had relation with the cultures of some islands, like Lesbos, Thermi (Lemnos) in addition to the far cultures such as Greece and Kyklat islands.
Troy-II (2500-2200B.C)
The second Troy was established on the ruins of the destruction of Troy-I. According to the excavations by Schliemann and Dorpfeld the city had three construction-layers, but it had seven construction-layers according to BrugeL The construction layers increased with the present excavations made by Korfmann. Schliemann found out the treasure between Troy-ll layers, that he supposed it belonged to Priamos. Troy-ll, comparing with Troy-I, was enlarged and surrounded by thick and strong walls. The diameter of the walls was almost 110 meters. It was enlarged In ring shapes one Inside the other just like Troy-I.
Troy-ll had a stone-covered ramp which was supposed to be used in rituals, and monumental gates supported by towers. The planning of the city showed great development Besides, the bigness and the order of the buildings planned as ‘Megaron’in the centre show that Troy-ll was ruled by an iron-handed king or a prince.
The most important invention was potter’s wheel in Troy-ll. They produced black and grey bowls, by spinning them in the potter’s wheel, and then polishing them by hand, together with brown and red bowls. The important characteristics form of this layer is ‘Depas amphikypellon’which Is a ceremonial wine-urn with a perpendicular handle. Many pots which have body and lid in the shape of a human face have unearthed in large numbers in the excavation. Golden and silver artifacts, goods made of mountain crystal in addition to the bronze tools are the evidences of their progress in art, even Schliemann was mistaken in this respect Some small relics discovered on different layers show that the city had trading relations with Mesopotamia and Syria in addition to the Aegean district
The most pompous, but the last phase ofTroy-ll was ll-C layer which was probably raided by the clans coming from Europe, and this destruction left behind one meter of stratum of the burnt city. The poor quality of the other layers of Troy-ll was due to the migration of the clans, that were simple and deprived of the central authority instead of the previous rich civilization in the city. There were three layers coming after Troy-ll, which was so poor from the point of remains and also of culture.