The treasure deposits of Troy: rethinking crisis and agency on the Early Bronze Age citadel

Christoph Bachhuber Anatolian Studies 59 (2009): 1-18.

Abstract

The treasure deposits of Troy have been largely studied in isolation from both architectural developments and other depositional contexts in Troia II—III. The corpus has been perceived as little more than a catalogue of information that can be assessed to outline various trends related to metallurgical production, expanding networks of exchange and fluctuations in economic wealth. Considerations of agency have been few and limited. This study relates the content and context of the treasures to depositional and architectural patterns that begin in Troia II. Meaningful continuities and transformations between Troia II—III ultimately challenge the widely held reconstruction that the treasures were a concealment of wealth in anticipation of an attack. The study arrives at an alternative explanation with a consideration of the relationship between the destruction and abandonment of the Troia II central megaron complex and the deposition of treasure. The central megaron complex and the treasure deposits represent two distinct and divergent strategies of élite initiative on the citadel. The study concludes with a consideration of the inherently destabilising practices of treasures deposition, the final destruction of Troia III and the end of the Early Bronze Age in Anatolia.