As it turns out, Atlantis* wasn’t the only ancient Greek island people lost track of. Ancient records indicate that there were Arginusae islands off the coast of Turkey, but only two exist in modern times, leading to a mystery archaeologists were unable to solve—until recently, that is, because an international team believes they have now found it.
The island—which hosted the ancient city of Kane—was noted in antiquity for being near to the site of the famous naval Battle of Arginusae in 406 BCE. Arginusae was between the two most famous Ancient Greek city-states—Athens and Sparta—during the second Peloponnesian War. Athens won this battle, but lost the war, and was stripped of its democracy until Thrasybulus reinstated it in 403 BCE.
But then, in the centuries following, the island mysteriously vanished. Finally, modern researchers had an interesting idea. Maybe the island still existed, but just in a different form—like in the peninsula that was located near the other two Argunusae islands. After drilling for samples in the ground of the peninsula, as National Geographic reported, the geographical evidence revealed that the peninsula was indeed the lost island; the narrow gap that had existed between it and the mainland had simply filled in centuries ago.
As to when exactly a land bridge formed between the island and the mainland, researchers don’t know for certain. Current evidence shows that it became a peninsula before the late Middle Ages, as a 16th century Ottoman map shows.
It’s guessed that the narrow channel was simply filled in with sediment over time, or perhaps an earthquake triggered the change, but currently the scientists are unsure. Radiocarbon dating will provide a better understanding of how and when it happened.
Citizens in Kane
The small city of Kane on the lost island was once a layover point in a major trade route running from the Black Sea along the southern coast of Turkey, with its large harbor often sought to protect ships from sudden storms.
Pottery previously found on the peninsula suggested its significance in the trade route—although at the time, it wasn’t suspected to be the lost island. New evidence uncovered, however, also points to the peninsula being the island, as the researchers discovered the submerged remains of an ancient seaport dating from the Hellenistic period—a time from approximately 323 to 31 BCE that follows the death of Alexander the Great and leads up to the victory of Octavian (later renamed Augustus) in Actium.
And there is more proof yet to come. “Classical archaeology has become much more complex than, say, 20 years ago,” Felix Pirson, director of the German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul, told National Geographic. “We can now incorporate many more subtle techniques of studying environmental influences.
*It’s actually not clear if Atlantis ever existed. The only written record we have of it is from Plato—who loved to use metaphor and allegory to make philosophical commentary. It is very possible Atlantis was invented to prove a point.
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Image credit: German Archaelogical Institute
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