The Antikythera Mechanism
Divers exploring an ancient shipwreck found a lump of corroded bronze. It turned out to be an ancient computer.
What was reported
In 1901, sponge divers exploring a Roman-era shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera brought up statues, pottery and a shoebox-sized lump of corroded bronze and wood. Inside the lump, researchers later found precisely cut gear wheels.
For decades, no one knew what it was. Because nothing so complex was known from the ancient world, some suggested it couldn't have been ancient at all.
Explanations offered
Using X-ray scans, scientists have shown that it is a Greek astronomical calculator, made around the 2nd or 1st century BCE. Turned by a handle, its gears modelled the movements of the sun, moon and planets, predicted eclipses and tracked the dates of the Olympic Games. Its full design is still being reconstructed.
- When
- Made about 2,100 years ago; found in 1901
- Where
- Antikythera, Greece
- Witnesses
- Sponge divers, then scientists
- Status
- Mostly explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.