TROY VII (Balkanic/Troia-culture about 1200 - 950 BC):
Troy VII phases VIIb1, VIIb2, and recebtly VIIb3 show continuity from what preceded them; for example, parts of the fortification walls remain in use. Yet there are significant new cultural elemens in both the lower and the upper levels. Handmade pottery suddenly re-appears after 1000 years of the potter's wheel. The lower parts of the walls are now faced with irregular, vertically-placed stone slabs.
In the building-phases (VIIb1-VIIb2) there are also changes in wall-building techniques, with the lower parts of the circuit-wall now being faced with irregular, vertically placed stone slabs (orthostats). How Troy VII1b perished (around the 1130 BC) is unclear. There are not clear evidence of destruction whether by earthquake or by human hands and probably the settlement was taken over by a related cultural group without serious disturbance. Prominent amongst the handmade pottery is a striking dark-coloured ware decorated with ribs and knobs like horns, the so called knobbed ware or Buckelkeramik, for which analogies are to be found in south-eastern Europe.
Similarly, a number of bronze axe heads found by Schliemann, although their context of discovery is not certain, have been attributed to Troy VIIb2 and have their best parallels in Late Bronze Age Hungary. Buckelkeramik has a parallels across the Hellespont it appears that its makers may have migrated into the Troad from Thrace, to which in turn they may have moved from further west. Troy VIIb2 was destroyed by fire. Conceivably the settlement was taken by force and put to the torch around 1100 BC.
Rrofsh per argumentet.
Thank you for the arguments.
"Prominent amongst the handmade pottery is a striking dark-coloured ware decorated with ribs and knobs like horns, the so called knobbed ware or Buckelkeramik, for which analogies are to be found in
south-eastern Europe. " What is the nature of this relation? To me at this point it is obvious that there is a connection between Troy and Modern Albanians although what is confusing me is the direction of the relationship as well as the chronology.
If parallels are to be found in south-eastern Europe, what is the chronological arrow? East to west, or west to east.
Furthermore, I fear making deduction based on pottery, or axes, since the Troad at the time was one of the most important centers of trade. Yet that argument is interesting.
So my question is since we know places such as Apollonia were founded after the sack of Troy, do we have evidence of pre 1300 stone buildings in the Balkans, or SE Europe as you stated? If we did have these parallel stones at the base of the walls style of building anywhere near Dardania (Kosov) or Northner Albania, or Epirus preceding 1320-1280 we could imply something otherwise it raises more questions than anything.
Furthermore, how do we know there was a "change" of leadership circa 1300BC when there is no war signs such as fire or anything. From what Homer stated and later characters parroted Dardans in Troy were an older dynasty even than the Trojans, we are talking double digit generations.
Nevertheless, thanks for starting this thread and taking the time to argument your points.
Hopefully I am not being illogical or foolish with my arguments.
At the end of the day we might never know, or the relationship could be much more complicated than we anticipate, with East-West movements not limited to countable instances sourced in history. But rather interchangeably, after all there was no concept of Nation at the time, and what was the state was nothing more than extended family hierarchies.