Thracians from the Rhodope Mountains lived in Troy, recent archaeological research shows

Thracians from the Rhodope Mountains settled in Troy immediately after the mythical war described by Homer. This is shown by archaeological research of the seventh layer of the legendary city known in our science.

It is likely that this was a large group of settlers who sought new sources in a changing economy in the Late Bronze Age. When the first explorers of Troy discovered their traces, they were utterly puzzled. And for a long time, the question of "who were these people" was one of their greatest mysteries.

The foundations of these houses lie in one of the most important layers for us - layer 7B2. Here archaeologists at the beginning found ceramics not seen before, they called it buckel ceramics Later it turned out that it was Thracian, and the people who lived here were Thracians from the Rhodope Mountains.

"In the beginning, the big question for us was what happened immediately after the Trojan War. This one here is from that time - in the citadel, next to the fortress wall and the western gate. In the construction of these houses, which are very small, hastily built and of poor quality, a technique was used that is typical of some areas of the Balkans. The houses were built in the citadel, which means that this citadel was clearly no longer important for the defence of the city," says Prof. Rustem Aslam.

Apart from the construction technique, the researchers later found quite obvious similarities with Thracian pottery from the Rhodope Mountains. And they can now say with certainty that Troy was inhabited for nearly a century by Thracians.

"The Thracians seem to have been looking for new places to settle, we find traces of them on the Gallipoli peninsula in Western Anatolia," explained Prof. Aslam.

Bulgarian researchers, on the other hand, decided to go further in an attempt to find out exactly where the Thracians came from. And they studied the composition of pottery from Troy and the Rhodope Mountains.

"They brought their culture and the analyses show that in fact this pottery was not produced in Troy, but outside Troy. That is, it was produced in the Balkans and it was brought along with this Thracian population, despite that very nice wheel-thrown pottery was produced in Troy, the so-called Minoan pottery," commented prof. Diana Gergova.

The connections of the Thracians with Troy can also be found in Homer's epic tale. Together with archaeology, they give a more certain picture of the ancient people from whom King Priam himself sought help. And he received it. Thus the glory of valour has been carried down through the centuries.