Survey map of the Plain of Troy on the Aegean coast of Turkey, along with the mouth of the Dardanelles and the island of Tenedos. Classical place names are given and ancient sites are marked.



This map is based on a survey of the Plain of Troy conducted by Capt. Thomas Graves and Adm. Thomas Spratt of the Royal Navy between 1839 and 1840. The survey was undertaken with the specific aim of locating the lost city of Troy. Spratt & Graves published their survey in a large Admiralty Chart in 1844, but this reduced version was published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society two years earlier in 1842.



Unlike most Admiralty surveys which focus exclusively on coastal and maritime detail, Spratt & Graves's map surveyed the entire Plain of Troy in fabulous detail. Heinrich Schliemann, the archaeologist who ultimately unearthed the remains of Troy in the 1870s, praised the Spratt/Graves map for its incredible accuracy, saying "I cannot refrain from making on this occasion a warm acknowledgment to both Admiral Spratt and Commander Graves for the Immense service they have rendered to science by their most excellent map... Every ruin, however small, is marked on this map."



A fascinating piece of classical and archaeological history. [TKY812]