The Residence (Manor House) - Troy II
The impressive "parcel" of strata comprising the Trojan Second Settlement on the citadel represents an accumulation of three meters. The excavations here have enabled us to separate the fill into eight building levels, each of which indicates a renovation in the fortifications and/or the structures inside. The most noteworthy periods are those of Troy II c and Troy II g (the latter representing the "Burnt City" in which Schliemann discovered his "Treasure of Priam").
Most of the architectural remains visible today represent Troy II c. You see a series of three long structures of mega ran type. The plan of the largest, Megaron II A (some 30 x 14 m) represents a typical megaron -the possible forerunner of the classical Greek temple. Because the original components have been protected by earth, you see only the approximate outlines; details of the architecture are lost from view. The facades were once lined with wooden posts, and most significant is that masonry of rectangular stone blocks was employed as an architectural "first" in this region -particularly impressive when we consider that iron tools would not be in use here for over another thousand years!
The main entrance to this complex was the processional Gate FO opposite; behind you, you see the large threshold block (3 x 1.1 m) remaining from a smaller gateway (Gate II C), and there was still another entrance in the west (see Info Panel 8).
The entire citadel of Troy II c thus displays a highly prestigious character. Here we have a manor house or palace complex that most likely served cult purposes as well. Below the citadel lay a fortified settlement first discovered in the recent campaigns. Troy II therefore intimates the existence of an "upper" class in both senses of the word. It was most likely a privileged class that inhabited the acropolis, while in the lower city lived the simpler local (?) folk probably surviving from the late or end-phases of Troy I.
The preeminent character of the upper city is reflected in the finds as well. The so-called treasures demonstrate a luxury not only awesome for its time, but astonishing in its workmanship as well. Troy counts as one of the earliest prehistoric sites known to have employed tin as an alloy in the production of bronze, and is also known as the earliest site within the Aegean realm to have employed the potter's wheel (not to forget the rectangular hewn blocks in the stone masonry!). Materials such as tin and semiprecious stones such as lapis lazuli and carnelian must have been imported from afar, implying extended trade relations that also underline the importance of the site in the Early Bronze Age.
