Archaeology of archaeology at Troy

Troy is one of the monumental sites of archaeology. The description of the mythical city by Homer and Virgil has inspired generations of artists, explorers and scholars. The spectacular discoveries made by Heinrich Schliemann in the late 19th century helped establishing archaeology as an academic discipline. Later excavations at the site, likewise, have generated scholarly and public attention, as well as controversies.

UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site

Since the summer of 2016, the University of Amsterdam is participating in the renewed excavations at Troy, which are directed by Professor Rüstem Aslan from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University in Turkey. The excavations aim to shed new light on old questions by adopting different perspectives and applying new techniques and methods. Because Troy has been a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site for 20 years, the Turkish Ministry of Culture has declared 2018 as the 'Year of Troy'. In this framework, the cooperation with Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Universty Turkey will be intensified.

The project

The Amsterdam team focuses on the Archaeology of Archaeology at Troy. Over a period of more than 150 years, many archaeologists have worked at Troy, with different aims, methods, and techniques. Study of the ways in which these researches have resulted in academic and popular interpretations of Troy will help to understand better the process of archaeology itself.

The Amsterdam team, which is headed by Dr. Gert Jan van Wijngaarden, will research the influence of practices of collecting, documenting and archaeological materials on interpretations about the site. In order to do so, publications, notebooks and field journals will be examined. The research also includes fieldwork at Troy, such as the re-excavation of trenches that were backfilled and, especially, investigation of excavation dumps. This fieldwork will be carried out during the summers of 2018 and 2019.

Because of Troy’s prominent role in modern archaeology, the conclusions of this research will be of relevance for archaeology as a whole.

Project description

Project information in the Turkish language

Troya arkeolojide oldukça önemli bir yere sahiptir. Amsterdam Üniversitesi 2016 yılı yaz sezonundan itibaren, Troya’da Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi’nden Prof. Dr. Rüstem Aslan başkanlığında yürütülen yeni kazılara katılmıştır.

More information on Troya’da Arkeolojinin Arkeolojisi

Crowdfunding

Fund raising for our project is done through the crowdfunding platform of the University of Amsterdam. Every contribution is welcome!

Crowdfunding Troy

Contact information

Dr. G.J.M. (Gert Jan) van Wijngaarden

ACASA Amsterdam Centre for Ancient Studies and Archaeology

G.J.M.vanWijngaarden@uva.nl +31 (0)20 525 2565