Pair's Remains May Date to Trojan War

Find in ancient Troy could date to 1200 BC
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 22, 2009 2:30 PM CDT
Pair's Remains May Date to Trojan War
Turkish actors pull a giant Trojan horse at the historical site of the Sphinx, right and Giza Pyramids, background, in Egypt, during a Turkish performance of "Troy," late Sunday, April 12, 2009.   (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

In a discovery one professor calls “electrifying,” archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a couple believed to have lived during the Trojan War era in Turkey’s ancient city of Troy, Reuters reports. “If the remains are confirmed to be from 1200 BC it would coincide with the Trojan war period” chronicled by Homer, the professor says. The bodies, both missing lower parts, were found near a defense line.

If the remains are indeed from 1200 BC, it could help to change historical perceptions of Troy, adding evidence that the city’s lower area was bigger than previously thought during the late Bronze Age. Archaeologists are conducting radiocarbon testing; pottery near the bodies was confirmed to be from that time period, but it’s possible the couple was buried 400 years later. (More Troy stories.)

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