Why did Heinrich Schliemann receive too much credit for locating the site of Troy?

Heinrich Schliemann received disproportionate credit for locating the site of Troy primarily due to his own self-promotion and his deliberate exclusion of others from the historical record. While he is often celebrated as the discoverer of the site at Hisarlik, later scholarship has clarified that he was not the sole architect of this identification.12

Key factors contributing to this perception include:

• Erasure of Frank Calvert: The English archaeologist Frank Calvert had already begun exploratory work at Hisarlik and was instrumental in convincing the better-funded Schliemann that it was the site of Troy. Schliemann systematically eliminated Calvert’s name from his own publications and discussions, effectively claiming the discovery as his own.12
• Prior Identification: The identification of Hisarlik as the site of Troy had been proposed as early as 1822 by Charles Maclaren, based on ancient literature, long before Schliemann began his excavations.32
• Self-Mythologizing: Schliemann was a master of self-promotion. Through his books and dispatches to major newspapers, he successfully cultivated a public image as the romantic, singular discoverer of the ancient city, which overshadowed the contributions of his predecessors and collaborators.1