Archaeologists excavating the ancient city of Troy in modern-day Turkey have uncovered an agora that may preserve a rare link between the Bronze Age settlement and the ancient Greek city of Ilion (Greek: Ἴλιον) that followed it.
The excavation in Çanakkale province is revealing evidence that a marketplace existed in the area during the Late Bronze Age. Researchers say settlers returned about 80 to 90 years after Bronze Age Troy was abandoned and reused the site as an agora. The discovery could help explain what happened at Troy during a little-understood period between the Bronze Age city and later Greek settlement.
Ancient marketplace shows signs of continued use
The excavation is taking place in front of the southern gate of Troy VI, according to Reyhan Körpe, deputy head of the Troy excavations and a historian at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University.
Researchers have worked in the area since 2014 to understand the connection between Bronze Age Troy and Archaic and Classical-period Ilion. Previous archaeological research has revealed multiple layers of settlement at the real city of Troy spanning different periods of its history.
Evidence suggests the later settlers did not start entirely from scratch. Archaeologists found houses built over older remains, while parts of Troy VI’s walls were reused during the Early Archaic period. They have also uncovered sections of structures associated with the agora, along with amphorae and other pottery fragments dated to the Early Iron Age.
Troya’nın 2.800 yıllık en eski agorası gün yüzüne çıkıyor
Çanakkale’deki Troya Antik Kenti’nde yürütülen kazılarda, yaklaşık 2.800 yıl öncesine tarihlenen agora araştırılıyor.
Kazı Başkan Yardımcısı Prof. Dr. Reyhan Körpe, alanın “Troya’nın en eski agorası” olarak… pic.twitter.com/eLkUDeqN1k
— Haber Arkeoloji (@HaberArkeoloji) September 11, 2026
The finds indicate that Troy was not left empty for an extended period after the Bronze Age, Körpe said. New settlers appear to have arrived within 80 to 90 years. They built homes over earlier structures and continued using the old marketplace area.
Finds shed light on transition from Wilusa to Ilion
The findings may also provide clues about the survival of Troy’s identity. Körpe said the newcomers established a settlement at a place previously known as Wilusa and called it Ilios or Ilion. Wilusa appears in Hittite records from the Late Bronze Age. The name has long played an important role in research into the connection between Wilusa, Ilios and ancient Troy.
The archaeological evidence could help researchers examine how much of the older city’s layout and identity survived into the new community. Excavations have also uncovered a pavement and an entrance running from Troy’s lower city toward the southern gate.
Detailed excavations reveal new evidence at Troy
The current excavations are led by Rüstem Aslan, head of the Troy Excavations Committee. Researchers are working in smaller areas and documenting remains in greater detail than during some early investigations. Parts of Troy were heavily damaged during Heinrich Schliemann’s 19th-century excavations of the ancient city as he searched for the Troy described by Homer.
Troy, famous as the setting of the Trojan War in the Iliad, was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1998. Researchers plan to continue excavating the agora to better understand how Bronze Age Troy evolved into the settlement later known as Ilion.
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