Jul 01, 2024 17:10:00

The possibility that the mysterious out-of-place artifact 'Antikythera Mechanism' was a 'lunar calendar' has emerged

By

Anita Gould

There is a theory that the Antikythera mechanism , known as one of the out-of-place artifacts, was used to predict the movements of the moon and planets. Some research has suggested that the Antikythera mechanism may have been used to indicate the ancient Greek calendar (lunisolar calendar).

07-HJJuly24-AOTM-2.pdf
(PDF file) https://bhi.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/07-HJJuly24-AOTM-2.pdf

University of Glasgow - University news - Gravitational wave researchers cast new light on Antikythera mechanism mystery
https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_1086643_en.html

Antikythera mechanism, world's oldest computer, followed Greek lunar calendar | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/antikythera-mechanism-worlds-oldest-computer-followed-greek-lunar-calendar

The Antikythera Mechanism is an instrument of unknown use discovered at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. It is also known as the 'world's oldest computer' because of its precise structure similar to a clock, even though it was manufactured before the Common Era. The exact purpose of this mechanism is unknown, but the prevailing theory is that it was used to track the movements of the sun, moon, and planets. Recently, some research has led to the theory that the Antikythera Mechanism follows the ancient Greek calendar.

In 2020, a team led by researcher Chris Budiselik analyzed information from the X-ray images and found that the Antikythera mechanism may have calculated its years based on a lunar calendar of 354 days, rather than a solar year (365 days).

By Anita Gould

In a new research paper published in 2024, Graham Woan and his colleagues from the University of Glasgow used statistical methods developed for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and analytical methods used in Bayesian statistics to calculate the number of 'holes' present in the Antikythera Mechanism.

According to Woan and his colleagues, it was found that the Antikythera mechanism likely had 354 or 355 holes in a circle with a radius of 77.1 mm. This means that it is likely that it was based on the 354-day calendar used in Greece at the time, rather than the 365-day calendar used by the ancient Egyptians. It was also revealed that the average radial variation of each hole was only 0.028 mm, and the holes were precisely positioned with extraordinary precision.

'The precision of the location of the holes in the Antikythera Mechanism would have required extremely precise measuring techniques and very steady techniques for drilling the holes,' Woan and his colleagues wrote.

Andrew Toni, a co-author of the 2020 paper, praised Woan and his colleagues' new research, saying he was 'very pleased that more scholars are now accepting and validating our findings.'