How did Heinrich Schliemann’s early excavation methods damage the site of Troy?

Heinrich Schliemann’s early excavation methods at the site of Hisarlik were characterized by a single-minded focus on discovering the Homeric Troy, which led him to dig uncritically through the site's upper layers.1

Because Schliemann believed that the Troy described by Homer must reside in the lowest level of the mound, he destroyed and damaged significant archaeological evidence from other historical periods of settlement in his haste to reach the bottom. This approach lacked the systematic care required to preserve the complex stratigraphy of the mound, where multiple cities had been built, destroyed, and leveled over centuries.12

It was not until his later seasons, particularly with the assistance of the architect Wilhelm Dörpfeld, that more rigorous and efficient archaeological techniques were introduced to the site, allowing for a clearer understanding of its layered history.1