Geophysics in the Search for Homer's Ithaca

Identifying the location of the island of Ithaca, legendary home of Odysseus, has been a problem for historians for centuries. The modern island of Ithaki, in the Ionian Sea, does not match the description in Homer’s epic poem. In 2003 Robert Bittlestone initiated a study of the Paliki peninsula in western Cephalonia in an attempt to determine whether this was the island that Homer called Ithaca, then separated from the rest of Cephalonia by a sea channel later described by the Greek geographer Strabo. Ground, airborne and marine geophysical surveys are being used to study the potential for a channel under an area now largely covered by colluvium from the adjacent mountains. Airborne EM and magnetic data provide a regional overview of ground conductivity. Ground EM, resistivity, gravity and refraction seismic surveys are being used to study the proposed channel zone in detail to determine the depth of fill and contours of the buried bedrock surface. Marine seismic has been employed offshore to analyze the drainage patterns at the low water levels of 3000 years ago. High resolution airborne LIDAR mapping provides detailed surficial information. All of these data sets are brought together to build a comprehensive geological model of the proposed channel area and to provide the ultimate test of the classical enigma.