The discovery of Troy (or what is believed to have been Troy) was significant because it suggests that there may have been some truth to the story behind the Iliad. His discovery pointed to evidence that a great conflict had taken place during the Bronze Age, and that the city had been destroyed during that period. In fact, Heinrich Schliemann's discovery of Troy, along with his later finds at Mycenae, uncovered a rich, relatively advanced Bronze Age civilization on either side of the Aegean Sea. No scholars seriously argue for the veracity of the events of the Iliad themselves, but the historical tradition represented by the story is borne out by the discoveries of Schliemann and those who followed in his footsteps.