Ithaca theory gains support - Geoscientist

Results of an offshore seismic survey and the first borehole to test the hypothesis that the Paliki peninsula of the Greek island of Kefallinia was once Homer’s Ithaca lend weight to the theory. Ted Nield reports.

The theory that the home of Odysseus, which has never been satisfactorily identified, was in fact a part of the modern island of Kefallinia that was once an island in its own right (Geoscientist 16, 9 p4 et seq.) has received support from the first test borehole. The theory, advanced by British businessman Robert Bittlestone (author of Odysseus Unbound - The Search for Homer’s Ithaca - Cambridge University Press), with Cambridge University classicist, Professor James Diggle and Edinburgh University geologist, Professor John Underhill, predicts that the peninsula of Paliki was once separated from the rest of Kefallinia by a narrow, probably tidal channel that subsequently became blocked by landslips. This theory solves a number of disagreements between modern geography and Homer’s text - inconsistencies not satisfied by the assumption that Bronze Age Ithaca and the modern island of Ithaki (to the east of Kefallinia) were one and the same island.

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Even closer to finding Ithaca. By Managing Editor Megan Sever

"Researchers are several steps closer to finding Homer's Ithaca, thanks to new results released today from geologic tests that support the hypothesis that the ancient kingdom of Ithaca may in fact be on western Kefalonia, not the modern-day Greek island of Ithaki, as has been suggested for several centuries, and is reported this month in Geotimes.

The hypothesis — put forth by businessman Robert Bittlestone, classicist James Diggle and geologist John Underhill in their 2005 book Odysseus Unbound — suggests that a channel once separated Kefalonia from its western peninsula, called Paliki, creating two separate islands. Paliki is Ithaca, as described in the Bronze Age 3,200 years ago, according to the hypothesis."

Click here for: the rest of this news article; feature article Finding Ithaca; AGI press release.

Compelling new evidence announced today about the location of Homer's Ithaca

• New scientific evidence closes in on western Kefallinia as Homer’s Ithaca
• Catastrophic rockfalls and landslides triggered by earthquakes believed to have filled in ancient sea channel and created a landlocked isthmus
• 122 metre (400 foot) borehole at isthmus meets no solid limestone bedrock
• Greek Geological Institute survey pinpoints submerged marine valley
• Bulgarian scientists locate microscopic marine fossils caught up in the rockfall
• American ground-penetrating radar confirms channel contours
• Ancient roads interrupted by landslides still visible on the surface
• Detailed scientific findings and supporting photographs provided
• Channel 4 News film update broadcast at 19:43 GMT on January 9

London, January 9 2007. Results were announced today of new geological work which supports the dramatic theory about the location of Homer’s Ithaca put forward by British businessman Robert Bittlestone, Cambridge classicist Professor James Diggle and Edinburgh geologist Professor John Underhill. In 2005 they proposed that the Ithaca described in Homer’s Odyssey is to be found on western Kefallinia, not the Greek island that is today called Ithaki. Within 24 hours the news had been relayed by over 100 newspapers, TV and radio stations world-wide.

 

The new geological work involved the drilling of a 122 metre (400 foot) borehole at the southern end of the isthmus between Kefallinia and Paliki, to see whether the drill-bit would encounter solid limestone bedrock or loose rockfall and landslide material. The borehole penetrated to well below sea level and as the theory predicted, no solid limestone bedrock was encountered. Professor John Underhill comments:

 

"We drilled down to a depth of 122 metres, which is almost 15 metres below today’s sea level, and we didn’t meet any solid limestone strata at all. Although this is only a first step in testing whether or not this whole isthmus was once under the sea, it is a very encouraging confirmation of our geological diagnosis.”

 

Click here for the full Press Release (PDF)

 

Click here for the Detailed Results (PDF)

 

Channel 4 News science correspondent Julian Rush filmed the drilling operation and the resulting 8-minute news film was broadcast on UK Channel 4 at 19:43 GMT. Other TV channels wishing to license this film footage for transmission on their own national networks are invited to contact Fiona Railton. A small-screen version of the film is now available on the Channel 4 website.

 

Click here to watch today's Channel 4 News film (8 minutes: alternative direct link here)

 

Click here to watch Channel 4's previous news film (4 minutes - September 2005)

 

Click here for subsequent Press coverage

 

100m test borehole being drilled on Cephalonia

 

Permission has been received from the Greek authorities to drill a test borehole on Cephalonia near the southern exit of the possible route of Strabo's Channel. The altitude of the borehole site is over 100 metres above the sea and it will be drilled down to sea level and beyond. The terrain at the surface of the test site consists of loose rockfall material that has been derived from the mountains to the east. The objective of this test is to determine whether this material continues down to sea level, or whether it is replaced by solid limestone bedrock or an intermediate sediment such as marl. The data from the borehole will be analysed in conjunction with other recent tests including gravity, seismic, resistivity and ground penetrating radar studies and it is expected that the results will be announced early in 2007. Further details and location maps are provided in John Underhill's Geoscientist article below. Click here for BBC press coverage.

 

Geoscientist magazine publishes new geological findings on Strabo's Channel

 

Geoscientist, the monthly colour news magazine of The Geological Society of London, has today published a major new scientific article by John Underhill entitled "Quest for Ithaca". The article documents the results of detailed investigations into the isthmus between the eastern land mass of Kefalonia and the western peninsula of Paliki. It describes the geological setting of the island and it includes an up-to-date account of the field-based geoscientific techniques used to test the proposal, both before and after the publication of Odysseus Unbound, up to July 2006. With the kind agreement of Geoscientist magazine, a copy of the published article is now provided on this website.

 

The Geological Society of London, founded in 1807, is the UK national society for geoscience and it is the largest national geoscience society in Europe. Geoscientist magazine is the main mouthpiece of the society and is distributed free to all Fellows, with a print run of 10,000 copies.

 

“Because the valley floor today rises to c. 180m, it is clearly demanding to suggest that it might have been at sea level as recently as the Bronze Age (late Holocene). As a result, I anticipated that Bittlestone’s hypothesis would be easy to test - and disprove. However, rebuttal has not proved at all straightforward. None of the results of geological and geomorphological fieldwork performed so far rules out the hypothesis that a marine connection as described by Strabo could have existed at that time.” Professor John Underhill, Geoscientist September 2006.

 

“Odysseus Unbound presents a highly readable personal account of what can happen when an enthusiast with a compelling synthetic vision glimpses a solution no specialist has seen and uses his considerable resources of energy and curiosity to bring renowned experts like Professors Underhill (Geology, Edinburgh University) and Diggle (Classics, Cambridge University) to focus on solving a puzzle that has mystified scholars for centuries. Robert Bittlestone may one day emerge as Homeric studies' Alfred Wegener of the Internet age.” Dr Ted Nield, Editor, Geoscientist magazine.

 

Click here for the full article: Medium resolution (12 Mb); Low resolution (2.5 Mb)

 

 

Global Mapper technology confirms Homer's description of ancient Ithaca as 'low-lying'

 

Latest version of software package calculates average elevation above sea level of Paliki vs. Ithaki

 

Click here for full size screenshots and instructions

 

 

 

NASA’s ‘World Wind’ Planetary Visualisation software pinpoints proposed site of ancient Ithaca

 

NASA's free 'World Wind' software can be downloaded to track the discovery. Fly around ancient Ithaca on your PC.

 

Click here for full size screenshots and instructions

 

 

 

 

International project team announces discovery of location of Homer’s Ithaca:

• Dramatic geological shifts hid solution to mystery of Odysseus’ island for 3,000 years

• Peninsula in western Kefallinia believed to have been a separate island

• Catastrophic earthquakes triggered massive landslides that joined islands together

 

What is potentially one of the most exciting classical discoveries for over 130 years was revealed in London today. At a conference held at the Foreign Press Association, Robert Bittlestone (Chairman of management consultancy Metapraxis Ltd), James Diggle (Professor of Greek and Latin at Cambridge University) and John Underhill (Professor of Stratigraphy at Edinburgh University) announced that they had found new and compelling evidence in support of the location of ancient Ithaca, the island described in great detail in Homer’s Odyssey.

 

Full text of Press announcement

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