Levkas

One of the Ionian Islands off the west coast of Greece, which was once believed to be Homer's Ithaca, home of Odysseus. Mycenaean remains at Nidhrí on the east coast testify to early occupation and convince some scholars that Leucas, not Ithaca, was the home of Odysseus.The cave of Chirospilia has yielded Neolithic material, but more important are the Early and Middle Bronze Age cemeteries. The former included the rites of jar burial and partial cremation under barrows. Two groups of tombs of the Middle Bronze Age contained some Minyan Ware, and show some links with the shaft graves of Mycenae, as also with burial mounds in Albania. In the mid-7th century BC, Corinthian colonists established themselves just south of the present capital and dug a canal through the isthmus. Under Roman rule in the 2nd century BC, a stone bridge, of which there are some remains, was constructed to the main island. In 167, the Romans made Levkas a free city.

One of the Ionian islands off the west coast of Greece, where excavations by DOrpfeld revealed occupation in several prehistoric periods: Neolithic settlement in the Chirospilia Cave and groups of Early and Middle Bronze Age burials in several locations. The Early Bronze Age burials were cremations in jars or stone cists under round barrows. Grave goods include slotted spearheads and daggers of bronze. In the Middle Bronze Age burials some Minyan ware appears. In the 7th century bc the Corinthians established a colony on Levkas.