Editing Troy (section)

==== Troy VI ====

Troy&nbsp;VI existed from around 1750&nbsp;BC to 1300&nbsp;BC. Its citadel was divided into a series of rising terraces, of which only the outermost is reasonably well-preserved. On this terrace, archaeologists have found the remains of freestanding multistory houses where Trojan elites would have lived. These houses lacked ground-floor windows, and their stone exterior walls mirrored the architecture of the citadel fortifications. However, they otherwise display an eclectic mix of architectural styles, some following the classic [[megaron]] design, others even having irregular floorplans. Some of these houses show potential Aegean influence, one in particular resembling the megaron at [[Midea (Argolid)|Midea]] in the [[Argolid]]. Archaeologists believe there may have been a royal palace on the highest terrace, but most Bronze Age remains from the top of the hill were cleared away by classical era building projects.<ref name=Bryce-2005/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 58–59}}<ref name=Jablonka-2011-Steadman-McMahon/><ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=20, 24}}

[[File:Troy (Ilion), Turkey (7446656654).jpg|thumb|left|Artist's representation of House VI M, part of the palatial complex]]

The citadel was enclosed by a massive wall whose limestone base is visible to modern day visitors. These walls were periodically renovated, expanding from an initial width of {{convert|1.2|to|5|m|ft}} around 1400 BC. During the Bronze Age they would have been overlaid with wood and mudbrick superstructures, reaching a height over {{convert|9|m|ft}}. The walls were built in a "sawtooth" style made of {{convert|7|-|10|m|ft}} segments which joined at shallow angles. This characteristic is common in the walls of [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] citadels, though at Troy it is also found in other buildings, suggesting that it may have been decorative. The walls also have a notable slope, similar to those at other sites including [[Hattusa]]. However, the walls differ from contemporary Aegean and Anatolian sites both in their lack of figural sculpture and in their [[masonry]]. While Troy VI's walls were made entirely of close-fitting [[ashlar]]s, contemporary sites typically used ashlars around a [[rubble masonry|rubble core]].<ref name=Bryce-2005/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 58–59}}<ref name=Jablonka-2011-Steadman-McMahon/><ref name="Jablonka-2012-Cline" /><ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=20–21}}

Troy VI's walls were overlooked by several rectangular watchtowers, which would also have provided a clear view of Trojan plain and the sea beyond it. The citadel was accessed by five gates, which led into paved and drained cobblestone streets. Some of these gates featured enormous pillars which serve no structural purpose and have been interpreted as religious symbols. The halls were built in ''[[megaron]]'' style, resembling [[Mycenaean architecture]].<ref name=Bryce-2005/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 58–59}}<ref name=Jablonka-2011-Steadman-McMahon/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Knight |first=W.F.J. |date=1934|title=The pillars at the south gate of Troy&nbsp;VI |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |volume=54 |issue=2 |page=210 |doi=10.2307/626868 |issn=0075-4269 |jstor=626868|s2cid=162416526 }}</ref><ref name="Jablonka-2012-Cline" /><ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=20–21, 24}}

The lower town was built to the south of the citadel, covering an area of roughly 30&nbsp;hectares. Remains of a dense neighborhood have been found just outside the citadel walls, and traces of Bronze Age occupation have been found further away. These include huts, stone paving, threshing floors, pithoi, and waste left behind by Bronze Age industry such as [[murex]] shells associated with the manufacture of purple dye. The extent of the lower town is evidenced by a defensive ditch cut 1-2 into the bedrock. A wall or palisade may have stood several meters behind the ditch, as in the outer defenses of other cities such as [[Kadesh (Syria)|Qadesh]] and [[Carchemish]]. However, material evidence for such a wall is limited to postholes and cuts in the bedrock.<ref name=Jablonka-2011-Steadman-McMahon/><ref name=Korfmann-2003>{{harvnb|Korfmann|2003|pp=29–30}}</ref><ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=22–23}}

The lower city was only discovered in the late 1980s, earlier excavators having assumed that Troy&nbsp;VI occupied only the hill of Hisarlık. Its discovery led to a dramatic reassessment of Troy&nbsp;VI, showing that it was over 16&nbsp;times larger than had been assumed, and thus a major city with a large population rather than a mere aristocratic residence. However, only 2–3% of the lower city had been excavated as of 2013, and few architectural features are likely to exist. Almost 2m of the surface has eroded, likely removing much of the evidence that hadn't already decomposed, been built over, or [[spolia|reused in later construction]].<ref name=Jablonka-2011-Steadman-McMahon/><ref name=Korfmann-2003/><ref name=Bryce-2005/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 61–64}}<ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=22–23}}

The material culture of Troy&nbsp;VI appears to belong to a distinct Northwest Anatolian cultural group, with influences from the Aegean and the Balkans. The primary local pottery styles were wheel-made Tan Ware and Anatolian Gray Ware. Both styles were offshoots of an earlier [[Middle Helladic]] tradition related to [[Minyan ware|Minyan Ware]]. The earliest gray ware at Troy was made in Aegean shapes, though by 1700 BC it had been replaced by Anatolian shapes. Foreign pottery found at the site includes Minoan, Mycenaean, Cypriot, and Levantine items. Local potters also made their own imitations of foreign styles, including Gray Ware and Tan Ware pots made in Mycenaean-style shapes, particularly after 1500 BC. Although the city appears to have been within the Hittite sphere of influence, no Hittite artifacts have been found in Troy&nbsp;VI. Also notably absent are sculptures and wall paintings, otherwise common features of Bronze Age cities. Troy&nbsp;VI is also notable for its architectural innovations as well as its cultural developments, which included the first evidence of horses at the site.<ref>Pavúk, Peter. (2005) "''[https://www.academia.edu/9645702/Aegeans_and_Anatolians_A_Trojan_Perspective_FULLTEXT Aegeans and Anatolians: A Trojan Perspective] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227213727/https://www.academia.edu/9645702/Aegeans_and_Anatolians_A_Trojan_Perspective_FULLTEXT |date=27 February 2023 }}''." In: Laffineur, Robert; Greco, Emanuele. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=s2R2PgAACAAJ Emporia: Aegeans in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318155305/https://books.google.com/books?id=s2R2PgAACAAJ |date=18 March 2023 }}'', Peeters Publishers & Booksellers. pp. 269–279.</ref><ref name="Jablonka-2012-Cline" /><ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=25}}<ref name=Jablonka-2011-Steadman-McMahon/><ref name=Korfmann-2003/>

The [[Trojan language|language spoken in Troy&nbsp;VI]] is unknown. One candidate is [[Luwian language|Luwian]], an [[Anatolian language]] believed to have been spoken in the general area. Potential evidence comes from a biconvex seal inscribed with the name of a person using [[Luwian hieroglyph|Anatolian hieroglyph]]s often used to write Luwian. However, available evidence is not sufficient to establish that Luwian was actually spoken by the city's population, and a number of alternatives, such as [[Trojan language#Greek|Greek]] and [[Trojan language#Lemnian-Etruscan|Lemnian-Etruscan]], have been proposed. Hittite documents found at [[Hattusa]] suggest that literacy existed at Troy and that the city may have had a written archive. The ''Alaksandu Treaty'' required King [[Alaksandu]] to read its text publicly three times a year, while the ''[[Milawata letter]]'' mentions that the deposed King [[Walmu]] was still in possession of wooden investiture tablets. The archive would likely have been housed in the citadel's innermost precinct, whose remains were pushed over the northern side of the hill during 3rd century construction. Despite attempts to sift through the rubble, no documents have been found.<ref name=Bryce-2005/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 117–122}}<ref name = "watkins">{{cite conference |first=C. |last=Watkins |author-link=Calvert Watkins |orig-date=October 1984 |publication-date=1986 |title=The language of the Trojans |book-title=Troy and the Trojan War |conference=Troy and the Trojan War: A symposium held at Bryn Mawr College |editor-first=Machteld J. |editor-last=Mellink |series=Bryn Mawr Commentaries |place=Bryn Mawr, PA |publisher=[[Bryn Mawr College]] |url=https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=bmc_books}}
</ref><ref name ="Yakubovich">{{cite thesis |last=Yakubovich |first=Ilya |year=2008 |title=Sociolinguistics of the Luvian language |degree=PhD |at=section&nbsp;3.6 |publisher=[[University of Chicago]] |url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/yakubovich_diss_2008.pdf |access-date=19 September 2021 |archive-date=11 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811025841/https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/yakubovich_diss_2008.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|pp=34–35}}

Troy&nbsp;VI was destroyed around 1300&nbsp;BC, corresponding with the sublayer known as Troy&nbsp;VIh. Damage in the Troy&nbsp;VIh layer includes extensive collapsed masonry and [[subsidence]] in the southeast of the citadel, indicative of an [[earthquake]]. Alternative hypotheses include an internal uprising as well as a foreign attack, though the city was not burned and no victims were found in the debris.<ref name=Jablonka-2011-Steadman-McMahon/><ref name=Bryce-2005/>{{rp|style=ama|pp= 64–66}}<ref name=Rose-2013/>{{rp|style=ama|p=30}}

{{Gallery
| title        =Troy&nbsp;VI–VII citadel walls
| align        =left
| state        = collapsed
| mode         = packed
| File:Troja-an-Stadtmauer.jpg
 | alt1=
 | Troy&nbsp;VI East Gate and Troy VI houses on the terrace immediately above.
| File:Troya_9.jpg
 | alt2=
 | Tower at the East Gate Complex
| File:Troy walls VII and IX.jpg
 | alt3= 
 | East Gate cul de sac (Troy&nbsp;IX walls on the right)
| File:Troy_(Ilion),_Turkey_(7446473680).jpg
 | alt4= 
 |Wall segment near the East Gate
| File:Troya_6.jpg
 | alt5= 
 | Side view of wall
| File:Turkey-2956_(2217219986).jpg
 | alt6= 
 | South Gate
| File:troy6 pillar.jpg
 | alt7= 
 | Non-structural pillar at the South Gate
}}
{{clear}}