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New research has revealed that the Antikythera Mechanism, an ancient shoebox-sized device used to track the movements of the sun, moon, and planets, followed the Greek lunar calendar, rather than the solar calendar used by the Egyptians, as previously thought.
of Antikythera MechanismDiscovered by sponge diggers off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera in 1901, the device is about 2,200 years old and is made of bronze gears, making it sometimes called the world’s oldest computer.
Part of this mechanism, called a “calendar ring”, had one hole for each day and was used to record the number of days in a year. This ring has been known for some time, but because it has only been partially preserved, it is unclear how many days it was made to record.
In 2020, a team led by independent researcher Chris Budicelic combined new X-ray images of the device with measurements and mathematical analysis to determine that the mechanism likely covers the 354 days used in a lunar calendar, rather than a solar year.
Similar results were published in another paper in The Horological Journal on Thursday (June 27). A team from the University of Glasgow used statistical methods developed for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory to detect gravitational waves, which are ripples in space-time generated by the collision of massive objects such as black holes. These statistical methods are sensitive enough to detect faint signals from a potentially very noisy background.
When researchers applied powerful statistical methods to the Antikythera Mechanism, they were able to infer the number and location of the missing holes from the locations of the known holes and the way the pieces of the mechanism fit together. They ultimately determined that the mechanism had 354 or 355 holes, meaning it likely followed a 354-day lunar calendar used in Greece at the time, rather than the 365-day calendar used in ancient Greece. Ancient Egyptians.
It was thought that the Egyptian solar calendar of 365 days may have been used, as it was more accurate than the 354-day lunar calendar.
“The Glasgow team’s results provide new evidence that one of the components of the Antikythera Mechanism was likely used to track the Greek lunar calendar,” the researchers said in a statement. statement From university.
The team was impressed with the attention to detail of the device’s creators.
“Measuring the exact location of the hole would have required extremely precise measurement techniques and an incredibly steady hand to drill it,” said a co-author of the study. Graham Warne“It’s a fascinating symmetry, and it applies the techniques we use to study the universe today to better understand the systems that helped people understand the movements of celestial objects almost 2,000 years ago,” the professor of astrophysics at the University of Glasgow said in a statement.
Andrew ThoeniToeni, a co-author of the 2020 paper, praised the new research. “I’m very pleased that more scholars are now accepting and validating our findings,” Toeni told Live Science in an email.
Diomidis SpinellisA professor of software engineering at the Athens University of Economics and Political Science, who has studied the mechanism but was not involved in either paper, said he was also impressed by the new research.
“The Antikythera Mechanism is the gift that keeps on giving,” Spinellis told Live Science in an email. “Despite being severely corroded and many parts missing, the application of increasingly sophisticated techniques and innovative interdisciplinary analyses continues to provide incredible insights into this remarkable artifact.”
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