LUMINESCENCE DATING OF LIMESTONE WALLS AND POTTERY FROM ITHACA (SCHOOL OF HOMER); FIRST AGES

Age estimation of two carbonate rock samples, using thermoluminescence (TL) technique, and two ceramic sherds using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) was performed; all derived from School of Homer (Pe-likata), on Ithaca Island, Greece. The first stone sample was collected from the east façade, the lower row of the Mansion (ITH-3), while sample ITH-4 derives from the outer circular wall of well-known archaeological age. The partial bleaching methodology of surface luminescence dating method using fine powder was ap-plied for the equivalent dose determination. The ages given by the two carbonate rock samples (stairs and wall) were in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC; the two ceramics dated to late Byzantine era. Various experimental features concerning bleaching of the carbonate rock samples are discussed.