Archaeologists working at the ancient city of Troy in Turkey’s northwestern Çanakkale province unearthed a 4,500-year-old gold brooch and a rare jade ornament during ongoing digs, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said Saturday. The pieces were recovered in the Troy II strata through controlled excavation and study, a find the ministry says helps settle a long-running debate by pushing the site’s origins back to around 2500 BC.
Researchers divide Troy into nine major settlement phases stacked one atop another. Troy II—known for stone fortifications, early metalwork, and signs of prosperity—belongs to the Early Bronze Age, centuries before the era associated with Homer’s epics. The newly found brooch fits that flourishing horizon. The jade piece, likely used as a ring or pendant, points to elite tastes and possible long-distance exchange networks linking Anatolia to distant sources of prized stones.
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The discoveries come under the ministry’s “Heritage for the Future” program, which funds multi-season fieldwork and conservation at key archaeological sites. Troy, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1998, has been a touchstone of archaeology since Heinrich Schliemann’s 19th-century trenches—and a cautionary tale about modern methods that protect context and chronology. Today’s teams work layer by layer, tying each artifact to precise stratigraphy to refine Troy’s timeline.
Both items will go on public view at the nearby Troy Museum, part of Turkey’s effort to keep marquee finds close to their landscapes. For visitors, the brooch and jade add fresh detail to a city that still bridges legend and science, anchoring Troy’s Early Bronze Age wealth in tangible objects that survived four and a half millennia.