The
Antikythera Mechanism is a very interesting device that was found on sunken ship near the island of Antikythera. No one is quite sure when the Antikythera Mechanism was made, nor can they be shure who's ship it was that sunk.
Found in 1900 by a diver who told his captain he had found a "mound of corpses and horses", the Antikythera Mechanism has puzzled scientists ever since. The mechanism is very similar to a mechanical clock and was made from more than thirty extremely well crafted gears.
Scientists have determined that the mechanism was built to calculate astronomical positions and that it was built around 100BC. Scientists have also found instructions on how to use the mechanism written in Greek on the mechanism itself.
The tv show Ancient Aliens have raised the possibility that the mechanism may have been built by aliens and delivered to humans a long time ago, after all, the intricate gearing mechanisms in the device were far ahead of their time. In fact, the world would not see such a device again for almost 1500 years when watches and other similar devices using gears became popular and widely used.
The main problem I have with the device being of an alien origin is that that Antikytheria Device calculated the position of the sun, moon, and the planets using the Greek geocentric model - the Greeks believed that the Earth was at the center of the universe. I doubt that any visitors from another planet would think Earth is the center of the universe, nor do I believe that an alien would not correct us about the location of Earth and instead build us a very advanced calculator designed to let us keep believing a lie.
So who built it?
In my opinion I have to side with scientists on this one. It was most likely built about 100BC by the Greek genius Archimedes who had built and invented many amazing things and was the "Da Vinci" or "Einstein" of his time and place. I believe the
Romans took the device when they conquered the Greeks and killed Archimedes. On the way back to Rome the ship that carried the loot either sunk on its own, or was sunk by a ship waiting at Antikythera.
I give this a 1 on the mystery scale. Let me know what you think.
1 = no mystery
2 = possible mystery
3 = total mystery
Full list of Articles
