By: Troy Qian

The Antikythera mechanism is a calculator made 2,200 years ago. It has gathered very big attention from researchers ever since it was recovered from a shipwreck near a Greek island in 1901. Generations of researchers have unveiled numerous mysteries about the device, which is often described as the world’s first analog computer. However, much of what it was used for remains unknown.

Although some people believe that the device can understand the function of time, others don’t. A study published this month goes against previous assumptions about the Antikythera mechanism that could understand the complex timepiece’s form and function.

A professor of astrophysics at the University of Glasgow, Graham Woan, and his associate, Joseph Bayley, told the NY Times that, “The mechanism’s calendar ring, a circular feature that survived only in fragments, had once held 354 holes, which corresponds to a lunar calendar of 354 days. That result conflicts with earlier research that found the ring as a solar calendar, lined with 365 holes.” Although they aren’t experts on the Antikythera mechanism, they think that the evidence is quite clear.

And Tony Freeth, a professor at University College London and an expert on the Antikythera mechanism, called it as, “Just wrong,” noting that there already was a much more precise lunar calendar embedded in the machinery.

If the ring does actually represent a lunar year, it would cancel out the current models of the mechanism. Because of this, some Antikythera scholars are still skeptical of the recent study.