Greeks vs. Hittites

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All Germany is transfixed by the debate over the significance of Hisarlik/Troy (see “The New Trojan Wars”). Seeking safe passage through the maze of accusations, arguments and counter-arguments, we turned to one of the world’s most eminent archaeologists, Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier—who also serves on Archaeology Odyssey’s Editorial Advisory Board. Formerly a professor of archaeology at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, Niemeier has been the head of the German Archaeological Institute in Athens since last fall. He is also director of excavations at Miletus, on the Aegean coast of southern Turkey. Perhaps equally important, for our purposes at least, he attended the February 2002 Tübingen conference, where the heroes of the New Trojan Wars came face to face.

Hershel Shanks: Let me start, Wolf, by asking you for your take on the Tübingen conference on Troy.