1. There is an anomaly in the plain directly in front of the citadel of Troy. The anomaly is a single raised earth phenomenon. It is very large. It has features that suggest human activity, for example, a turn in the earth northwest of Kalifat. To explain the anomaly requires identifying what is under the ground that is causing the ground to lay like it does. Human activity can explain the anomaly, and the anomaly is so large that no other human construction activity can explain it except that which we do when we build a city.
2. There are several large, raised earth anomalies south of the citadel, including two large hills and a 3000 foot long berm. There are two declivities west of Kalifat. These anomalies also require explanation. Human intervention in the landscape would explain them. I have suggested that these are flood control structures. I am willing to argue for a fourth raised earth anomaly near Kalifat, across the Mendere from the long berm. This one is very degraded but looks like it was once a massive earth work. I have also identified two raised earth anomalies and a declivity farther up the plain, near Pinarbasi.
3. The raised earth anomaly below the citadel is sculpted in such a way that its sharpest angle, on its southwest corner, divides the waters rushing toward it in flood conditions.
4. So, the plain of Troy includes both a raised earth anomaly directly in front of the citadel, and a massive ancient flood control system just above it in the plain.
5. The flood control system argues for the existence of a city nearby in the plain. After all, flood control is about safety. So, the flood works suggest that there is someone or something to protect. What would that be other than a city in the plain?
6. The Dumbreck valley floor raises up as it approaches the raised earth anomaly in the Medere valley.
7. The valley of the Ciplak rivulet also raises up as it approaches the anomaly in front of the citadel.
8. The rising floors in the valleys on both sides of the citadel are anomalies. Tributary valleys don't usually do that. They run at roughly the same level as the valleys they enter because the two so often flood at the same time. The raised ends of these tributary valleys argue for an advanced age for the anomaly in the Mendere valley. It has been blocking tributary flood paths long enough to build up significant deposition in the two valleys on its eastern side.
9. The marsh north of Hisarlik in the Dumbreck valley could be unnatural. It may be the result of an excavation done to slow and direct flood waters. The spoils from this dig could have been heaped up against the northeast side of the city or the south side of the valley in hopes of directing flood waters to the northwest. The raised ends of both valleys may have benefited from human intervention in the landscape, sculpting the land with excavations, heaps and weirs.
10. The Kesik Cut, which runs through the ridge west of Lisgar Marsh, may be a flood control device intended to drain the marsh, preventing it from overflowing into the west side of the city in the plain.
In the above diagram (looking east), raised earth anomalies are outlined in yellow. Slowed waters are blue. Flooding waters (red arrows) are blocked above Kalifat, and diverted into the channel flowing past the city. On the east side, flood waters slow and deepen near the city, and flow around the city to the north.
In the photo below (looking NNW), the roads rise up as they travel from right to left (east to west) and mount the tell of Troy. The area between the mound and the village shows how the plains should look where they meet. The uprising at the meeting of the two plains is an anomaly that needs to be explained.
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