A hundred and twenty years ago, divers discovered a shipwreck off the island of Antikythera in Greece. Little did they know that the contents of the shipwreck would blow the minds of experts in the following years. Among the many ordinary objects the divers recovered, one stood out. It was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. In fact, there is only one such object that has ever been found on Earth. The artifact was mechanical in nature. It was strange and alien to us. Eventually, the discovery of the so-called Antykathera mechanism changed history and our perception of ancient technology. The device would go on to capture the imagination of archeologists, mathematicians, and astronomers. We have been studying the Antikythera Mechanism for decades, and still, it continues to give more details about its purpose. But one thing is for sure. The object, dubbed an ancient computer by many experts, is the only one in existence on Earth.
The Antikythera Mechanism is a mystery
We have no clue who built it or where it was built. We only know that something this complex was not supposed to exist in the distant past. Although we still cannot say for certain what the exact purpose of the object was, experts seem to agree on one thing: it was likely the first analog computer on the planet’s surface. Its purpose is still shrouded in mystery, but experts say it was used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses decades in advance. Although we have no written texts that mention the device, experts believe it was designed and built around 100 BC in Greece. Experts believe the device was initially calibrated around 204 BC. Experts place the Antikythera Mechanism at 2,226 years old.
