Zakynthos is situated along various maritime routes and within sight of the western Peloponnese. The suitable harbors of the island make it a node in both local and Mediterranean maritime traffic, as has also been attested by ancient writers, among whom Plutarchus.
In the 1930s the British archaeologist Sylvia Benton described many of the archaeological sites on the island and has excavated on the peninsula of Kalogeros and near Alikanas. Unfortunately her work has never been published.
Due to a lack of systematic investigations as well as the frequency of destructive earthquakes, modern cultivation of the soil, and the recent building for tourism, there is a relative scarcity of archaeological remains.
The 2005 season is meant as a preliminary research to investigate the feasibility of a systematic survey project of several seasons. It will result in a first assessment of the archaeology of the island and the relationships antiquities and landscapes in various geomorphological units. In order to do this the team will carry out a reconnaissance survey by visiting known sites, during which their geographical dimensions will be established. Fieldwalking will also be conducted, counting the number of finds on the surface without picking them up. Different geomorphological units are the subject of a more detailed investigation, including the collection of finds for dating sites.
The team will investigate the Mycenaean site of Cape Kalogeros in the southeast of the island by intensive fieldwalking, including the collection of diagnostic finds. The area around the Mycenaean tholos tomb of Alikanas will also be investigated by fieldwalking. The team will collect diagnostic finds and plan the visible architecture.