Citation:
Abstract:
From the beginning of the new excavations at Troia the concept was to have two teams working side by side but with close interactions. The German team led by Manfred Korfmann concentrated on the Bronze Age and the American team led by Ch. Brian Rose on the Classical to Medieval periods. Originally the dividing line was easy to define, because then it was a common believe that after the end of the Bronze Age at Troia there was a hiatus in the sequence of the settlements. In addition it seemed that the ceramic inventory of the Bronze Age was dominated by gray wares while the later periods were characterized by red and buff wares. In the course of the project it became clear that this strict division was not possible and that there was a gradual transition from the Bronze to the Iron Age when there may have been a hiatus in the architecture but certainly not in the ceramic spectrum. Thus, also the division between the two teams merged into a joint endeavour and the new discoveries of this period are certainly one of the major achievements of the project. Accordingly, there are three volumes each planned for the Bronze Age and the Classical periods.
The first volume of the Bronze Age results summarizes the history of (more recent) research and the formation of the new excavation team. Then the applied techniques are explained in some detail and the concept for the preservation and presentation of this World Cultural heritage site. Chapter two begins with a detailed description of the site and the intensive survey that was performed in the area of the Lower City of Troia and is followed by descriptions of the archaeological and scientific methods used. The third chapter is devoted to cultural and natural environment of Troia and the reconstruction of its cultural history until the end of the Bronze Age. The second volume on the Bronze Age periods will present the results of the investigations based on stratigraphy, pottery and small finds from periods Troia I to Troia V that is the Early and the earlier Middle Bronze Age. It is in this period that Troia has always been and still is a crucial site for the chronology of the Aegean and the southern Balkans. During the excavations it became clear that there was a difference in the numbering of the major settlement units between Dörpfeld and Carl Blegen, which we will try to resolve. The third volume will be devoted to the Late Bronze Age periods Troia VI and VII and it will be shown that Troia continued to exist into the Early Iron Age or at least was not forgotten.