Εarly Bronze Age Troy grew through innovation, mass production and expanding trade, but its success depended on intense resource use — from deforestation and quarrying to continuous farming and overgrazing. These pressures gradually damaged soils, forests and water systems, weakening the city’s stability. Around 2300 BCE, environmental strain combined with social and political tensions, contributing to Troy’s decline. The community later adapted with more diverse and sustainable practices. Troy’s story highlights how economic ambition can exceed ecological limits, a lesson that remains relevant today.

Troy’s fall was partly due to environmental strain – and it holds lessons for today