Homer's Ithaca Possibly Found Thanks to New Geologic Research

Alexandria, VA – Results of geologic tests released on January 9, 2007, by British businessman Robert Bittlestone, Cambridge classicist James Diggle, and University of Edinburgh geologist John Underhill suggest further evidence to support the hypothesis that Homer’s Ithaca can be found on western Kefalonia. The research is reported in the January 2007 issue of Geotimes magazine, published by the American Geological Institute (AGI).

This hypothesis suggests that the western peninsula of the modern-day Greek island Kefalonia, called Paliki, was a separate island 3,000 years ago. Landslides and rockfalls from earthquakes filled in the valley between Kefalonia and Paliki, thus disguising the ancient landscape that was described by Homer in the Odyssey.

Underhill and colleagues have conducted extensive geological and geophysical studies on the southern end of the isthmus between Kefalonia and Paliki where the team drilled a 122-meter borehole. The team never encountered bedrock but instead bored through unconsolidated rockfall and landslide material even below sea level. The absence of bedrock and presence of very young marine fossils in the reworked borehole sediments confirm that rockfalls and landslides could have filled in the ancient sea channel to create the isthmus between the once separate islands. If this hypothesis holds true, Paliki likely matches Homer’s description of Ithaca.

To read more about the latest results and further evidence that Paliki could be Homer’s Ithaca, go to http://www.geotimes.org/current/WebExtra010907.html.