The hill of Hisarlık rises 31.2 meters above the plain and 38.5 meters above sea level in present-day Canakkale, Turkey. This mound contains nine distinct archaeological layers, each representing a city built upon the ruins of its predecessor. Troy I dates from around 3000 BC to 2550 BC and covered less than one hectare with massive limestone fortifications. Troy II followed between 2500 BC and 2300 BC, doubling the size of the previous settlement while featuring a lower town protected by a wooden palisade nearly three meters wide. Troy III through V occupied the period from 2300 BC to 1750 BC, though little is known about these layers due to careless excavation practices that destroyed most remains without documentation. Troy VI existed from approximately 1750 BC until 1300 BC, expanding to cover roughly 200,000 square meters when including the lower town discovered in the late 1980s. Troy VIIa and VIIb represent the final Late Bronze Age phases before destruction around 1180 BC. Troy VIII began during the Greek Dark Ages around 700 BC and lasted until 85 BC, while Troy IX ran from 85 BC to 500 AD. An additional layer designated Troy 0 predates all Roman numeral designations and dates tentatively to 3600, 3000 BC.
Bronze Age Trading Hub
Troy VI thrived as a major coastal city with extensive foreign contacts extending across the ancient world. The citadel featured freestanding multistory houses where Trojan elites lived, lacking ground-floor windows but displaying eclectic architectural styles mixing megaron designs with irregular floorplans. Foreign pottery found at the site includes Minoan, Mycenaean, Cypriot, and Levantine items alongside local wheel-made Tan Ware and Anatolian Gray Ware. Archaeologists discovered evidence of trade networks reaching the Baltic region for amber, India for carnelian, and Afghanistan for lapis lazuli. These luxury goods appeared in caches that attest to Trojan participation in aristocratic competition systems spanning much of the Ancient Near East. The lower town covered approximately 30 hectares and contained dense neighborhoods with huts, stone paving, threshing floors, and waste from Bronze Age industry including murex shells used to manufacture purple dye. A defensive ditch cut one to two meters into bedrock protected the settlement, while wooden palisades may have stood several meters behind it. Troy VI's walls reached heights over ten meters and were built in a distinctive sawtooth style common in Mycenaean citadels yet also appearing in other buildings throughout the site.