Troy in the Discourse of Ukrainian Archaeology

Abstract

Troy (Illion, Vilusa) have entered the discourse of Ukrainian archaeology in the period of its revival after losses during the Great Terror period and World War II. The stratigraphic column of the cities of Troy has become the basic for clarifying of chronology of the Bronze Age sites on the territory of Ukraine and South of Eastern Europe in general. The search for analogies to certain categories of artifacts from the steppe zone in the stratified layers of Troy was also productive. Attention to the cultural complexes of Troy increased during the period of the restoration of Ukraine’s independence due to the discovery and excavation of fortified settlements of the Final Bronze Age along the North Pontic area and the Lower Dnieper basin (Dykyi Sad, in Mykolaiv; Kartal, at the Lower Danube River, etc.). Reliable materials appeared to synchronize the sites of the Northern Pontic region with the horizons of Troy VII. The possibilities of the participation of the Late Bronze Age steppe tribes in the campaigns of the “Sea Peoples”, which also touched the inhabitants of Troy in the 13th—12th centuries BCE now are under discussion. The concretization of the cultural connections between the bearers of archaeological cultures of the Bronze Age steppe zone and the appropriate cities of Troy is now acquiring a certain dynamic. Further progress in the study of the processes that took place in the Circumpontic area in the 3rd—2nd centuries BCE depends largely on the establishment of effective contacts between the archaeologists of Turkey and Ukraine. The revitalization should be facilitated by the materials of the Trojan colloquium held in Kyiv in May 2018. At the same time, the author warns native archaeologists against the abuse of the Troy name during the presentation of archaeological sites of our country.