Troy

Question 1

Why could Troy VI be site for Trojan war?

Answer 1

• it was destroyed around 1250 BC with the Trojan war traditionally dated to 1200 BC
• rich city with lots of big houses
• walls were 7m high and Iliad refers to Troy’s tall walls
• walls seem to have towers - mentioned in Iliad
• extended of large area with population of 10,000 - thriving city like the Iliad presents

Question 2

Evidence that Troy VI was not the site of the Trojan war

Answer 2

• archaeologists believe it was destroyed by an earthquake, not a fire that ancient literature suggests

Question 3

Reasons for Troy VIIa being the site of the Trojan war

Answer 3

• also has large towers
• singled storey houses packed tightly together and built in a short period of time - emergency housing for the trojans when the Greeks were attacking the city?
• storage jars were sunken deep into the ground - were people trying to store food during the war
• it was destroyed by a fire
• human remains found by Defense line (possibly killed in warfare)
• three bronze arrowheads found - sign of warfare or just hunting?

Question 4

Reasons for Troy VIIa not being the site of the Trojan war

Answer 4

• house crammed together - suggesting city was not rich, unlike homer’s
• sunken jars might not suggest siege just a lack of space that people had to keep food in the ground