Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, Universität Tübingen, DEU
Department of Classics, University of Cincinnati, USA
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2001
SYMPOSIUM
2002
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Ten areas were excavated and seven sections of the site were restored, two of them for aid to visitors.
The Bronze Age:
Troy I-III (ca. 2600 - 2300 B.C.)
Excavation in a key section
of E/F4 aimed at a clarification of the architectural transition from late
Troia I to Troia II, a complex series of building phases originally revealed
by Schliemann/Dörpfeld and Blegen. Following the results of 1998 we
have to add several additional phases to late Troia I to eliminate present
inconsistencies.
In quadrat G6 excavation
of an intact area containing undisturbed structures from Troia VI down
to Troia II was continued from 1997. This year inside the defense wall
of Troia II we uncovered the remains of a phase IIh megaron with plastered
walls, a central circular hearth, and important finds like a cult amphora
with idols in adoration gestures on the handles. For 1999 we expect to
complete the excavation of the building and the confirmation of its character
as a place of cult with a well preserved inventory.
Amphora with figures.
Troy VI-VIa (ca. 1700 - 1150 B.C.)
We concluded the 1997
sondage inside the Northeast Bastion searching to answer significant questions
concerning Troy's water supply. For reasons of safety we had to stop before
we reached the bottom of the well. Analyzing the fill so far we can state
that the well went out of use at the latest in Troia VIIb2.
In the west of the Lower
City the cave with a spring was unsuccessfully searched for finds allowing
to date its earliest use as a fountain. Likewise the water conduits and
basins found at the exit from the cave so far have not yielded proof of
usage in the bronze age. Both operations will continue in the coming year.
The
rock-cut ditch for the Troia II (?) bulwark (Troia 35308)
Investigation of areas
KL16/17 in the Lower City earlier had already uncovered sections of "negative
architecture", the foundation for a wooden palisade cut into the bedrock.
In 1998 our excavation in this area uncovered the rest of the gate installation
of this palisade. Analyzing the fill of the postholes of the bulwark we
discovered as a big surprise that they contained sherds of Troia I/II.
Hence this structure has to be assigned to the first great period of Troia
i.e. that of the Maritime Culture of the "treasure horizon" in the middle
of the 3rd mill. B.C. Thus the previous view of a larger settlement in
the environs of the citadel is solidified. Beginning with Early Troia VI
after the clearing of the bulwark down to bedrock wooden houses appear
with changing construction characteristics through the late bronze age
period. They were followed by distinct settlement structures no sooner
than the Hellenistic period.
Post-Bronze Age:
Troy VIII-IX
1998 marked the conclusion
of excavation activities of the Post-Bronze Age group at Troia. Examination
of the evidence, however, will continue several years until the final publication.
Activities concentrated
on the area of the Odeion and the Bouleuterion which resulted in a clearer
understanding of the terracing of the acropolis from Archaic to late Hellenistic
periods. Furthermore for the first time we found Hellenistic building structures
in the center of the Lower City and above the great theatre. The excavation
in area t/u15 was accompanied by dating the sparse finds from within the
various parts of the cave and from the water basins in front of the cave.
So far all of them point to the Roman period.
A larger project was
started outside of Troia at the tumulus of Besik-Sivritepe which has been
severely demolished by robbing sondages in the recent years. After initially
investigating the use of a horizontal robbing tunnel it was decided for
safety reasons to dig a vertical shaft from the top in search of a burial
chamber. So far the construction scheme of the tumulus consisting of horizontal
layers has been verified. The investigation will be concluded next year.
The Sivritepe tumulus.
Cincinnati editor: John Wallrodt (email: john.wallrodt@classics.uc.edu)
Date Last
Modified: 8/Feb/99
By: JLW