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Antikythera Mechanism

New analysis of Antikythera Mechanism reveals clues to one of history’s greatest puzzles

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A new study of the world famous Antikythera mechanism has revealed fascinating new information about the puzzling artifact, including that the maths used for its eclipse prediction appears to be based on Babylonian arithmetic rather than Greek trigonometry.  A detailed analysis of the eclipse predictor has also enabled scientists to determine that the device’s astronomical calculations started in 205 BC, enabling the first accurate dating of the mechanism. If this is correct, it makes it highly unlikely that its creator was the renowned ancient Greek inventor Archimedes.

The Antikythera mechanism was discovered in 1900 during the recovery of a shipwreck off of the Greek island, Antikythera, in waters 60 meters deep. The metallic device consists of  37 different types of gears and is so complex that many consider it to be the first human-made analogue computer. After decades of research, scientists were able to determine that it shows the positions of the sun, moon, and planets as they move through the zodiac, predicts solar and lunar eclipses, and even marked key events such as the Pan-Hellenic games. Scientists have claimed that the complex assemblage of bronze gears predates other similar types of technology by 1,000 years.

Representatives of the Greek government, the crew and the sponge divers on the deck of the Greek navy ship Mykali in winter 1900/1901, pulling up objects from the Antikythera shipwreck

Representatives of the Greek government, the crew and the sponge divers on the deck of the Greek navy ship Mykali in winter 1900/1901, pulling up objects from the Antikythera shipwreck (Wikimedia).

Archaeologists and historians have long debated when the device was built and by whom.  “Given its sophistication, some experts believe it must have been influenced, at least, by one of a small pantheon of legendary Greek scientists – perhaps Archimedes, Hipparchus, or Posidonius,” writes the New York Times.

References to complex astronomical mechanisms in the works of ancient writers, has led to some of the above proposals being made. For example, Roman politician and philosopher, Cicero (106 – 43 BC), refers to an instrument that reproduced the motions of the sun and the five planets. The device Cicero described, which many believe was the Antikythera mechanism, was built by Archimedes.  However, the latest analysis challenges this assumption, revealing that the device may be even older than first thought.

Sketch showing the complex assemblage of gears in the Antikythera mechanism

Sketch showing the complex assemblage of gears in the Antikythera mechanism (Wikimedia)

The new study, published in the journal Archive for History of Exact Science, involved a detailed look at the Saros dial (eclipse predictor) of the Antikythera mechanism. Their results revealed that the prediction calendar includes a solar eclipse that occurred on May 12, 205 BC. This suggests that the device is at least this old, and may in fact be the year of its creation. Researchers had previously dated the mechanism to around 100 to 150 BC based on  radiocarbon dating and an analysis of the Greek letters inscribed on the device. However, the new date pushes the origin back by 50 to 100 years, and suggests that Archimedes is unlikely to be its creator, as he was killed in 212 BC, seven years prior to the new date of 205 BC.

The study also supports the idea that the maths used for eclipse prediction was based on Babylonian arithmetical models borrowed by the Greeks. “We… find that a Babylonian-style arithmetical scheme employing an equation of center and daily velocities would match the inscribed times of day quite well,” write the study authors. “Indeed, an arithmetic scheme for the eclipse times matches the evidence somewhat better than does a [Greek] trigonometric model.”

Last month, an expedition returned to the Antikythera shipwreck—with the aid of a high-tech exosuit—and recovered tableware, ship components, and a giant bronze spear that would have belonged to a life-sized warrior statue. A new investigation is planned for early next year and it is hoped the exploration may reveal more about this unique piece of advanced ancient technology.

Featured image: The Antikythera Mechanism found in a shipwreck off the island of Antikythera in Greece. Credit: Tilemahos Efthimiadis / flickr

By April Holloway

 

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giopastore's picture

I have the pleasure of informing you that my book has been printed in English:
THE RECOVERED ARCHIMEDES PLANETARIUM, Science, technology, history, literature and archaeology, certainty and conjecture on the most ancient and extraordinary astronomical calculating device. With two other scientific studies: on the Antikythera Planetarium and the Pitcher of Ripacandida. With the appendix: PYTHAGORAS IN THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD. Influences of Pythagorean scientific philosophy in the modern and contemporary world.
Given the considerable international interest, the book has been translated into English.
Sincerely,
Prof. Ing. GIOVANNI PASTORE  - ITALY
Tel. +39 0835 980530
E-MAIL: [email protected]
INTERNET: http://www.giovannipastore.it/index_english.htm
http://www.giovannipastore.it/ARCHIMEDES.htm

 

1. Regarding Ms. Hall's novel featuring the mechanism, if she did not make a connection between Antikythera and Kythera, then there could be a problem, although I have seen errors in novels by well-established authors that are just about as bad.

2. Regarding Archimedes being some sort of "plural mythic" figure like Pythagoras, I don't have a clue where that comes from. We have books and/or book list refeences to his books, we have historical accounts of his activities and his death, and lots of statuary or busts of him. I have never heard of his being a combination of mythical figures, although I would be willing to allow that some of his exploits or his final words may be just legend.

3. The 205 BC date for the first eclipse calculated by the mechanism excludes Archimedes because he would conceivably be interested in an eclipse that occurred probably no more than a year in his future or within his existing life time frame that he could use as a zero point or confirmation that it worked. He was pretty old at his death for that time. However, the mechanism could have been built based on an earlier model he made or could have been made by one of his students/assistants that survived the Roman conquest of Syracuse.

well guys, it's pretty obvious that there had to be earlier similar models.there must have been many golden ages in human history.

Yeah. That does seem a bit simplistic. I'm wondering about the fact that it is so complicated. Surely there must have been simpler versions and prototypes preceding this device that are now lost to us. Given the uses for the data it provided everyone would want one! Just because we've only found one doesn't mean that's all there ever was...

The idea that the inclusion of info related to an eclipse in 205BC suggests that the object is at least that old is yet another example of the incredible silliness that many archeologists display.

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April

April Holloway is a Co-Owner, Editor and Writer of Ancient Origins. For privacy reasons, she has previously written on Ancient Origins under the pen name April Holloway, but is now choosing to use her real name, Joanna Gillan.

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