{"id":2522,"date":"2015-03-29T19:12:26","date_gmt":"2015-03-29T19:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atcorfu.com\/?p=2522"},"modified":"2024-09-25T00:06:47","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T00:06:47","slug":"prehistoric-ancient-corfu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atcorfu.com\/prehistoric-ancient-corfu\/","title":{"rendered":"Corfu at Prehistoric and Ancient Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span> Last updated on September 25th, 2024 at 12:06 am <\/p>

Prehistoric era<\/h2>\n

Corfu has been inhabited since the Stone Age.<\/p>\n

At that time it was part of the mainland and the sea that today separates it from the mainland was only a small lake, it became an island after the rising of the sea at the end of the Ice Age in about 10.000-8000BCE,<\/p>\n

Evidence of Paleolithic occupation has been found near the village of Agios Mattheos at the southwest and a Neolithic occupation near the village of Sidari.<\/p>\n

The Greek name of Kerkyra came from a mythological Nymph called Corcyra, a daughter of the river god Asopos. Corcyra was kidnapped by the god of sea Poseidon who brought her here and gave her name to the island.
\nCorcyra became Kerkyra later in the Doric dialect.<\/p>\n

The first residents in the 12th century BCE were the Phaecians. The first founder was Phaeks and his son was Nafsithoos who was the father of the Homeric king Alkinoos, known from the Odyssey.<\/p>\n

King Alkinoos and his daughter Nausikaa helped Odysseus to return to Ithaca.<\/p>\n

At this point, mythology gets muddled with history<\/a>, and we do not know the exact origin of the Phaecians who according to Homer had some relationship with the Mycenaeans. Although archaeological investigations have failed to find a link with any Mycenaean remains.<\/p>\n

Later more immigrants came from Illyria, Sicily, Crete, Mycenae, and the Aegean islands.<\/p>\n