There is no evidence proving the Trojan War did occur, rather there are accounts of information gathered from various excavations suggesting that if the Trojan War did occur, Hisarlik was most likely the site it did. Hisarlik consists of an ordinary low lying mound with some bits of broken pavement, building foundations, and walls. However, all in all, it is not extremely distinguishable from the rest of its surroundings. Visitors who visit Hisarlik can see a large wooden horse, built in more recent years, that serves as an aid in convincing individuals Hisarlik is the true site of Homer’s Troy. The origin of how the Trojan War was started lies in Homer’s poem, the Iliad. Hiller, the author of “Two Trojan Wars? On the Destructions of Troy VI and VII” reminds individuals that our trust in a historical Trojan War is rooted in Homer who is not a historian, but rather a poet. He also specified that because Homer is a poet, part of his role in creating content is exaggerating for better effect, and therefore evidence in support of a Trojan War needs to be independent from Homer’s epic. One point made by skeptics of the Trojan War was that it was extremely unlikely that a civilization would declare war and gather a fleet of hundreds of ships over a dispute of a woman, the original belief of the spark of conflict However, Bronze Age kings occasionally were willing to go to war over the abduction of any one of their subjects, but even more so when that subject was a family member. The information that will provide the most insight into the historical significance of the war are the excavations that occurred. The first step in establishing the physical location of the war is to find a clearly identifiable location for the war. This has not been done, although, currently Hisarlik is seen as the most identifiable. Even so, Heinrich Schliemann favored other locations as the official site of Troy before settling on Hisarlik. Heinrich Schliemann, perhaps the archaeologist most involved with the search of Troy, began excavations in Hisarlik in 1871. Because Troy is made of several settlements, another challenge was finding which of the layers were the most likely to match up with the war. Schliemann believed one of the earliest layers would have to be the site of Troy. Without much prior knowledge on excavation, Schliemann had his crew dig a trench through the site, which resulted in the destruction of several of the upper layers. The dwellings and what could be found on that level of the mound did not add up with Homer’s description with Troy, which then required excavation into the later layers. However, because Schliemann had destroyed most of the newer layers, there was only a little bit of the sixth settlement that survived, which does not provide for a large representation of the settlement. However, it was the sixth settlement that provided the best evidence of Troy’s existence. Pottery found on the site of Hisarlik showed that Troy VI most likely ended around the first of the thirteenth century. This sets the date for the war around 1250, if the war and Troy were to coincide. The date of 1250 is in very close proximity to the date given by Herodotus, a Greek historian and as well as given by other Classical Greek sources. This level also represented a peak period of the layers, once again supporting the idea that it truly was the site of the Trojan War. However, even with these pieces of evidence, the similar accounts between Homer’s Troy and Hisarlik are still generally slight and do not show any significant evidence. Another indication that the Trojan War may have occurred is that the excavation of Troy VI provided evidence that signified violent destruction. However, yet again there is no way to be certain whether the destruction was caused by humans or the environment, or both.