The Search for Ancient Ithaca

Homer's epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey describe Odysseus’ 20-year journey to, and return from, the Trojan War around 3000 years ago. They include descriptions of a number of Bronze Age (Mycenaean) sites, the locations of which have long been sought by archaeologists and classical Greek Scholars.

While Troy, Mycenae and Tyrens have been found and excavated, the location of Odysseus’ homeland, Ancient Ithaca, has remained elusive. Whilst an island today bearing the name of Ithaki lies in the Ionian Sea, it lacks evidence of a major Bronze Age settlement. Moreover, there is a striking geographic inconsistency since Ithaca was described as low-lying and situated to the west (outboard) of Same (Kefalonia), Doulichion and Zakynthos. Consequently, the western peninsula of Kefalonia, Paliki, is a better candidate.

Given that Ithaca was thought to be an island, we deployed an array of geoscientific methods in the Thinia Valley, a narrow (6km x 2km) land bridge connecting Paliki with the rest of Kefalonia, in order to test whether a throughgoing marine channel existed in the Bronze Age which would have rendered today's single island into two distinct bodies.

As the data and evidence emerged, it became evident that the marine channel theory did not hold water. Instead, another explanation presented itself, involving an overland watercourse comprising northward- and southward-flowing rivers occupying incised valleys formed during the last glacial maximum.

The results are consistent with Strabo’s description of the valley in Roman times, which mentions that at times water stretched from end to end, and would resolve the long-standing Classical mystery surrounding the location of Odysseus’ homeland, with consequent implications for Greek Scholarship and future archaeological investigations.

“The marine channel hypothesis does not hold up under scrutiny,” explains Professor John Underhill, who has led the geoscientific research since its inception. “What we see instead is a landscape carved not by a Bronze Age seaway but by rivers, most likely filling valleys carved during the last Ice Age. This resolves a key geological question while still supporting the geographic description of Paliki as the most plausible setting for Homer’s Ithaca.”