One of the innovations in archaeology in the 19th century was considering that some parts of the old myths could be literally true in ways the fantastical elements could hide from our modernist eyes, so sites that were buried like the original city of Troy was found, and also the whole minoan civilization, and there are photos and videos showing the buildings with (what I assume are restored) artwork including bulls everywhere. Apparently their palaces were giant and maze-like for the day. In some ways myths can be like a multi-millennia old jpeg -- it has a lot of junk from the mythic compression, but still shows a real picture if you zoom out somewhat.

It's one of the things that makes me say we can't just totally disregard myth, because it might not be telling us things that are in forms we understand directly, but it is often telling us things that are nonetheless true in different respects, and not just about the sites of ancient battles.