Editing Heinrich Schliemann (section)

==Legacy and criticism==
[[File:Schliemann mansion 1900.png|thumb|The Schliemann mansion in [[Athens]], ca. 1910, now housing the [[Numismatic Museum of Athens]]]]

Schliemann's magnificent residence in the city centre of Athens, the ''Iliou Melathron'' (Ιλίου Μέλαθρον, "Palace of [[Troy|Ilium]]"), today houses the [[Numismatic Museum of Athens]].

Along with [[Arthur Evans|Sir Arthur Evans]], Schliemann was a pioneer in the study of the [[Aegean civilization]] in the [[Bronze Age]]. The two men knew of each other, Evans having visited Schliemann's sites. Schliemann had planned to excavate at [[Knossos]] but died before fulfilling that dream. Evans bought the site and stepped in to take charge of the project, which was then still in its infancy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arthur John Evans |url=http://hubbardplus.co.uk/evans/Arthur_John_Evans_Sir/arthur_john_evans.html |access-date=2023-06-11 |website=hubbardplus.co.uk}}</ref>

Further excavation of the [[Troy]] site by others indicated that the level Schliemann named the Troy of the ''[[Iliad]]'' was inaccurate, although they retain the names given by Schliemann. In a 1998 article for ''[[Classical World (journal)|The Classical World]],'' D.F. Easton wrote that Schliemann "was not very good at separating fact from interpretation"<ref name="Easton 1998 341">{{cite journal|last=Easton |first=D.F. |title=Heinrich Schliemann: Hero or Fraud?|journal=The Classical World |volume=91 |date=May–June 1998|doi=10.2307/4352102|issue=5|pages=335–343 |jstor=4352102 }}</ref> and claimed that, "Even in 1872 Frank Calvert could see from the pottery that Troy II had to be hundreds of years too early to be the Troy of the Trojan War, a point finally proven by the discovery of Mycenaean pottery in Troy VI in 1890."<ref name="Easton 1998 341"/> "King Priam's Treasure" was found in the Troy II level, that of the Early Bronze Age, long before Priam's city of Troy VI or Troy VIIa in the prosperous and elaborate Mycenaean Age. Moreover, the finds were unique. The elaborate gold artefacts do not appear to belong to the Early Bronze Age.

His excavations were condemned by later archaeologists as having destroyed the main layers of the real Troy. [[Kenneth W. Harl]], in the Teaching Company's ''Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor'' lecture series, sarcastically claimed that Schliemann's excavations were carried out with such rough methods that he did to Troy what the Greeks could not do in their times, destroying and levelling down the entire city walls to the ground.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=363| title=Great Ancient Civilizations of Asia Minor| first=Kenneth W. | last=Harl | access-date=November 23, 2012}}</ref>

In 1972, Professor William Calder of the [[University of Colorado]], speaking at a commemoration of Schliemann's birthday, claimed that he had uncovered several possible problems in Schliemann's work. Other investigators followed, such as Professor David Traill of the University of California.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JcE8BAAAQBAJ&q=schliemann+David+Traill+of+the+University+of+California&pg=PA73|title=The Trojan War: A Very Short Introduction|last=Cline|first=Eric H.|date=2013-04-12|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-933365-3|language=en}}</ref>

A 2004 article of the [[National Geographic Society]] called into question Schliemann's qualifications, his motives, and his methods:
{{blockquote|In northwestern Turkey, Heinrich Schliemann excavated the site believed to be Troy in 1870. Schliemann was a German adventurer and [[con-man]] who took sole credit for the discovery, even though he was digging at the site, called Hisarlık, at the behest of British archaeologist Frank Calvert. [...] Eager to find the legendary treasures of Troy, Schliemann blasted his way down to the second city, where he found what he believed were the jewels that once belonged to Helen. As it turns out, the jewels were a thousand years older than the time described in Homer's epic.<ref name="Stefan Lovgren" />}}

A 2005 article presented similar criticisms when reporting on a speech by University of Pennsylvania scholar C. Brian Rose:
{{blockquote|German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann was the first to explore the Mound of Troy in the 1870s. Unfortunately, he had had no formal education in archaeology, and dug an enormous trench "which we still call the Schliemann Trench," according to Rose, because in the process Schliemann "destroyed a phenomenal amount of material." [...] Only much later in his career would he accept the fact that the treasure had been found at a layer one thousand years removed from the battle between the Greeks and Trojans, and thus that it could not have been the treasure of King Priam. Schliemann may not have discovered the truth, but the publicity stunt worked, making Schliemann and the site famous and igniting the field of Homeric studies in the late 19th century. During this period he was criticized and ridiculed of claims to fathering an offspring with a local Assyrian Girl sparking infidelity and adultery which Schliemann did not confirm or deny. '<ref>{{cite web|first=Lauren |last=Stokes |url=https://swarthmorephoenix.com/2005/11/23/trojan-wars-and-tourism-a-lecture-by-c-brian-rose/ |title=Trojan wars and tourism: a lecture by C. Brian Rose |publisher=Swarthmore The Phoenix|access-date=2024-11-07|date=2005-11-23 }}</ref>}}

Schliemann's methods have been described as "savage and brutal. He ploughed through layers of soil and everything in them without proper record keeping—no mapping of finds, few descriptions of discoveries."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rubalcaba|first1=Jill|last2=Cline|first2=Eric|author-link2=Eric H. Cline|title=Digging for Troy|publisher=Charlesworth|isbn=978-1-58089-326-8|pages=30, 41|year=2011}}</ref> His rough excavation, conclusory interpretation and appropriation of artifacts were criticised by contemporary antiquarians, among them Spyridon Comnos and [[Stephen Salisbury III]].<ref>{{cite conference|last=Salisbury|first=Stephen|title=Report of the Council|conference=Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society at the Semi-Annual Meeting, Held in Boston|date=April 28, 1875}}</ref> The fame of his discoveries overshadowed such criticism through most of the twentieth century, such that [[Carl Blegen]] excused his recklessness: "Although there were some regrettable blunders, those criticisms are largely colored by a comparison with modern techniques of digging; but it is only fair to remember that before 1876 very few persons, if anyone, yet really knew how excavations should properly be conducted. There was no science of archaeological investigation, and there was probably no other digger who was better than Schliemann in actual field work."<ref>{{cite book|last=Blegen|first=Carl W.|title=Troy and the Trojans|year=1995}}</ref>

In 1874, Schliemann also initiated and sponsored the removal of medieval edifices from the [[Acropolis of Athens]], including the great [[Frankish Tower (Acropolis of Athens)|Frankish Tower]]. Despite considerable opposition, including from [[George I of Greece|King George I of the Hellenes]], Schliemann saw the project through.{{sfn|Baelen|1959|pp=242–243}} The eminent historian of [[Frankokratia|Frankish Greece]], [[William Miller (historian)|William Miller]], later denounced this as "an act of vandalism unworthy of any people imbued with a sense of the continuity of history",{{sfn|Miller|1908|p=401}} and "pedantic barbarism".{{sfn|Baelen|1959|p=242}}

In his excavations at Troy, Schliemann found many [[swastika]]s adorned on pottery<ref name="Schliemann 1875"/> and consulted with Aryan nationalist [[Émile-Louis Burnouf]] to identify the symbol. Claiming that the symbol was connected with the Aryans, Burnouf adopted and popularised the swastika as a symbol of Aryan nationalism.<ref name="Swastika: The Power of a Symbol">{{Cite web |title=Swastika: The Power of a Symbol |url=https://humanjourney.us/the-evolution-of-language-section/external-symbols/swastika-the-hidden-power-of-a-symbol/ |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=The Human Journey |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206233237/https://humanjourney.us/the-evolution-of-language-section/external-symbols/swastika-the-hidden-power-of-a-symbol/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>