Schliemann's discovery of ‘Priam's treasure’: a re-examination of the evidence

Abstract

The importance of Schliemann's excavations at Troy, Mycenae and elsewhere is beyond dispute. Yet the aura of greatness which his remarkable achievements have rightly conferred on his name has tended to blur our perception of the man himself. Psychoanalytic studies by W. G. Niederland have offered fresh insight into his complex character, but it is the paper given by W. M. Calder III on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of his birth that marks the beginning of the new sceptical attitude to Schliemann. Calder pointed out that Schliemann's autobiographical writings contain many false claims and purely fictitious episodes which biographers have uncritically accepted as fact. This new view of Schliemann as an unreliable witness, which, incidentally, was held by many of his contemporaries, has now been confirmed and expanded by subsequent research.It is principally in matters of his personal life that recent studies have exposed Schliemann's propensity for lies and fraud. However, G. Korres has shown that in his scholarly work too Schliemann did not shrink from seriously misrepresenting the truth. It is the purpose of the present article to demonstrate that even Schliemann's archaeological reports are vitiated by this kind of behaviour. We are not here concerned with Schliemann's interpretations of his discoveries.

Discursos sobre falsificaciones arqueológicas 

“…En efecto, se creía que el conjunto de piezas fue encontrado en las excavaciones arqueológicas dirigidas por Heinrich Schliemann en Hisarlik, en el interior de lo que él identificó como el palacio del Príamo homérico (Schliemann 1874: 289 ss. ), pero hace unos años, tras el cotejo de sus apuntes de campo, se piensa que muchas de las piezas fueron encontradas por el excavador de Troya en otros lugares de la Tróade, en muchas ocasiones comprando piezas en anticuarios (Traill 1984).…”

Priam's Gold: the Full Story

“…A few extra objects crept in, 81 probably because the photographs were, as we know, made in w Witte 1990: 452, Blatt 39, subsequently confirmed by letter: Blatt 42. 7 Traill 1983: 183;1984: "Schliemann 1873a: 306; 1874a: 297; 1875: 334f; 1881: 41. 78 Easton 1984b: 162;: 196.…”

“…The number was fluctuating from 65 to 85. The Eckenbrechers noted on arrival that Schliemann was covered in dust from the excavations, Traill 1993: 158 n.16. "Traill 1988b Amin Efendi presumably left the site fairly late in the day since Schliemann did not expect him back from the Dardanelles until the morrow (Meyer 1936: 132 remembered it or thought it was a depas squashed out of shape.…”

“…The only objects which may be earlier than expected are the granulated earrings SS 5929, 5930. 84 Traill 1982;1983: 185. Traill's views on Priam's Treasure have changed.…”

“…The letter is to be published by the museum staff. 91 Traill 1986b. the Turks should he lose the battle." We know that he wrote to his lawyer in Paris in June 1873, asking him to find a goldsmith for this purpose.…”