THEME: Ancient Anatolia THEME TROY DURING THE LATE BRONZE AGE

Archaeologists have traditionally divided the remains of human habitation in Troy into ten main architectural phases, each of which is then subdivided according to minor changes in the city's architecture, from the late fourth millennium BC to the Roman period. The phases of Troy in the Late Bronze Age are Troy VI (h) and Troy VII (a), spanning the late eighteenth century BC to the early twelfth century BC

Though it is sometimes claimed that Troy VIIa was a culturally similar, but poorer, continuation of VIh, recent excavations have debunked such a notion. Instead, it is now considered that both VIh and VIIa represent the pinnacle of Trojan wealth and (presumably) power, and that changes in, for example, the city's layout may have been more the result of an increase in the city's population. Whilst Hittite texts indicate that there may have been political problems, the erection of massive towers for the Trojan citadel-wall and the construction of spacious houses in the lower town suggest that the city continued to be prosperous. Similarly, though Mycenaean pottery is notably rarer in Troy VIIa than in VIh, this may have had less to do with local poverty, and