The Antikythera Mechanism: Evidence of a Lunar Calendar
December 14, 2020 11:22 PM Subscribe
A new examination of some old evidence shows that the 2000 year old astronomical computer uses a 354-day lunar calendar, rather than the previously suspected 365-day Egyptian civil calendar.
Chris Budiselic (aka Clickspring), who has been building a replica of the Antikythera mechanism for the past four years using the tools that would have been available at the time of its construction states:
Chris Budiselic (aka Clickspring), who has been building a replica of the Antikythera mechanism for the past four years using the tools that would have been available at the time of its construction states:
At no stage has anyone empirically tested the assumption that the divisions in the calendar ring do in fact number 365. The assumption has for more than 100 years been simply taken to be true. Certainly it's a reasonable guess especially in the days before high resolution imaging, but if everything about the feature rests on that number being correct, then surely it needs to be verified.This discovery potentially has implications for some unsettled debates about the nature of Egyptian calendars:
With our finding, however, we can propose that a fundamental question — the existence of the Egyptian ‘civil-based’ lunar calendar — has possibly gained some supporting evidence. […] Parker and Depuydt have both theorised the existence of the later Egyptian lunar calendar and predicted its month names would be drawn from the civil calendar. Based on the above, we suggest that the front dial calendar ring of the Antikythera Mechanism is possibly the first example of the Egyptian civil-based lunar calendar proposed by R. A. Parker in 1950.If you're interested, you can check out the videos on building the replica, ancient tool technology, or the research paper presenting the findings.
The research paper (page 13) indicates that intercalation would have been done manually, by rotating the calendar dial one month.
I think the mechanism the authors propose is plausible, and a lunar calendar (used by lots of people including the Jewish diaspora) would have been a much more useful adjunct than a "civil Egyptian" one.
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:12 AM on December 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
I think the mechanism the authors propose is plausible, and a lunar calendar (used by lots of people including the Jewish diaspora) would have been a much more useful adjunct than a "civil Egyptian" one.
posted by Joe in Australia at 12:12 AM on December 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
Clickspring is an incredible channel and I'm so, so excited that this is how he's been spending his time.
posted by mdonley at 1:05 AM on December 15, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by mdonley at 1:05 AM on December 15, 2020 [4 favorites]
we must unlock the secrets of this mysterious device before the sinister kythera return
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 4:13 AM on December 15, 2020 [42 favorites]
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 4:13 AM on December 15, 2020 [42 favorites]
Show some respect, you gravitational well dwelling grogs.
The proper term of address for this master sky charting mechanist is:
G'day, Chris.
posted by Pouteria at 5:36 AM on December 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
The proper term of address for this master sky charting mechanist is:
G'day, Chris.
posted by Pouteria at 5:36 AM on December 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
The history of the antikythera mechanism is part of the bedrock of my belief in open source and shared knowledge. It's hard to understand how revolutionary a technology seventeen hundred years ahead of its time could have been, but we somehow lost it to secrecy, entropy and happenstance.
posted by mhoye at 5:45 AM on December 15, 2020 [11 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 5:45 AM on December 15, 2020 [11 favorites]
What would have made it really ahead of its time is the use of interchangeable parts and other techniques to make it reproducible rather than a handcrafted one-off. Ancient peoples weren't stupid, they knew a lot more than we often give them credit for, hence all the ancient aliens bullshit. What they lacked was a means of mass production, which is what has allowed the vast majority of us to live in a way that would have boggled the mind of a pre-industrial king (in many ways, though not all).
These benefits have not accrued only to those of us living in the developed world, though we have captured far more of the benefit. It isn't even tied to fossil fuels directly, though they have supercharged the effect of mass production.
posted by wierdo at 7:36 AM on December 15, 2020 [9 favorites]
These benefits have not accrued only to those of us living in the developed world, though we have captured far more of the benefit. It isn't even tied to fossil fuels directly, though they have supercharged the effect of mass production.
posted by wierdo at 7:36 AM on December 15, 2020 [9 favorites]
Ha, it’s so funny I was just thinking about how the mechanism was such a mystery for the first half of my life and it’s been amazing how much more is clear from Clickspring’s rebuilding. This also partially answers hat Chris has been up to since it’s been two years since his last video.
posted by midmarch snowman at 8:26 AM on December 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by midmarch snowman at 8:26 AM on December 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
What they lacked was a means of mass production ... It isn't even tied to fossil fuels directly
I wonder if mass production is actually feasible without enormous amounts of energy (eg. fossil fuels). Not just in the sense that it takes a lot of resources to create and maintain specialized equipment, which I suppose could be done given enough people, but also in the sense that fossil fuels broader one's reach geographically, expanding the potential sources of raw material and potential customers to the point where mass production breaks even.
posted by dmh at 8:56 AM on December 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
I wonder if mass production is actually feasible without enormous amounts of energy (eg. fossil fuels). Not just in the sense that it takes a lot of resources to create and maintain specialized equipment, which I suppose could be done given enough people, but also in the sense that fossil fuels broader one's reach geographically, expanding the potential sources of raw material and potential customers to the point where mass production breaks even.
posted by dmh at 8:56 AM on December 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
What would have made it really ahead of its time is the use of interchangeable parts and other techniques to make it reproducible rather than a handcrafted one-off.
Not speaking to interchangeability/ mass production, but one of the points that ClickSpring makes throughout this build is that there is evidence that this product has several examples of problem-solving that must have evolved through several iterations. So, though this is the only one that survived, it is likely that this was the product of a shop/maker, if not a whole industry, that worked and improved upon the concept over time.
posted by Think_Long at 9:02 AM on December 15, 2020 [7 favorites]
Not speaking to interchangeability/ mass production, but one of the points that ClickSpring makes throughout this build is that there is evidence that this product has several examples of problem-solving that must have evolved through several iterations. So, though this is the only one that survived, it is likely that this was the product of a shop/maker, if not a whole industry, that worked and improved upon the concept over time.
posted by Think_Long at 9:02 AM on December 15, 2020 [7 favorites]
First they came for daylight saving time, and I did not speak out—
Because I liked to sleep in.
Then they came for international time zones, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a traveller.
Then they came for the 365 day year, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a solar time adherent.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
posted by fairmettle at 9:03 AM on December 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
Because I liked to sleep in.
Then they came for international time zones, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a traveller.
Then they came for the 365 day year, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a solar time adherent.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
posted by fairmettle at 9:03 AM on December 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
I wonder if mass production is actually feasible without enormous amounts of energy
Back when "mass production" was referred to as "the American System of Manufacturing" it could be powered by water. Steam, of course, offered notable advantages in locating factories but the concept itself hasn't necessarily required fossil-scale fuel density. Elements of mass production date back to the Qin, to say nothing of the Venetian shipbuilders, but I don't personally know enough to comment on those.
posted by aramaic at 9:27 AM on December 15, 2020 [6 favorites]
Back when "mass production" was referred to as "the American System of Manufacturing" it could be powered by water. Steam, of course, offered notable advantages in locating factories but the concept itself hasn't necessarily required fossil-scale fuel density. Elements of mass production date back to the Qin, to say nothing of the Venetian shipbuilders, but I don't personally know enough to comment on those.
posted by aramaic at 9:27 AM on December 15, 2020 [6 favorites]
I haven’t read the PDF yet but am agog at the idea that — no one counted the 'day' ticks before?
posted by clew at 10:36 AM on December 15, 2020
posted by clew at 10:36 AM on December 15, 2020
no one counted the 'day' ticks before?
A lot of them are missing, and the ring they're on is fractured. The "ticks" themselves are holes, many of which are covered by corrosion, and although the ancient craftsperson was surprisingly precise, they weren't so precise that you can figure it out by just a few measurements. Most of the paper is basically a statistical analysis of the holes' relative positions in an attempt to deduce their number.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:20 AM on December 15, 2020 [6 favorites]
A lot of them are missing, and the ring they're on is fractured. The "ticks" themselves are holes, many of which are covered by corrosion, and although the ancient craftsperson was surprisingly precise, they weren't so precise that you can figure it out by just a few measurements. Most of the paper is basically a statistical analysis of the holes' relative positions in an attempt to deduce their number.
posted by Joe in Australia at 11:20 AM on December 15, 2020 [6 favorites]
Back when "mass production" was referred to as "the American System of Manufacturing" it could be powered by water
Interesting, thanks. So it's not just the energy. I guess it takes a lot of imagination as well. Frankly I'm often a bit amazed by, you know, just the general number of parts in the world, all completely identical, with a catalog number, and a version history, and a spec sheet, etc. etc. It takes some imagination to conceive of, just the administration of all these little parts. I guess I hadn't really thought of mass production as a concept separate from the industrial revolution, but I can see how that's a conceptual leap aside from the energy requirements, the idea that if you're going to build an Antikythera, you reach for a catalog instead of a hammer.
posted by dmh at 1:21 PM on December 15, 2020
Interesting, thanks. So it's not just the energy. I guess it takes a lot of imagination as well. Frankly I'm often a bit amazed by, you know, just the general number of parts in the world, all completely identical, with a catalog number, and a version history, and a spec sheet, etc. etc. It takes some imagination to conceive of, just the administration of all these little parts. I guess I hadn't really thought of mass production as a concept separate from the industrial revolution, but I can see how that's a conceptual leap aside from the energy requirements, the idea that if you're going to build an Antikythera, you reach for a catalog instead of a hammer.
posted by dmh at 1:21 PM on December 15, 2020
babbage often had lengthy / heated / obscene arguments with his suppliers, since no one could manage to manufacture gears as precise as the ones he needed to build his engines. technology development is often less about what great new ideas people have and more about what parts are available.
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 2:35 PM on December 15, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 2:35 PM on December 15, 2020 [5 favorites]
Lord, yes. We had 33 1/3 vinyl records because a commonly available electric motor and a commonly available gear could turn at 33 1/3.
posted by Mogur at 2:43 PM on December 15, 2020 [4 favorites]
posted by Mogur at 2:43 PM on December 15, 2020 [4 favorites]
I read Simon Winchester's The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World recently, it is a deep dive on how mass manufacture drove more precise machine tools, and vice versa. I don't know much about the history otherwise so I can't speak to its accuracy, but it's a good read.
posted by BungaDunga at 7:36 PM on December 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 7:36 PM on December 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
In re no one counting the day ticks: Thanks for the information about how hard it was, but also, people were mistakenly assumed to have 48 chromosomes for a long time.
Cytologists had been studying chromosome behavior since the late 19th century. Why did it take until 1956 to figure out the correct human chromosome number, thanks to Joe Hin Tjio and Albert Levan?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_production
There was pre-industrial mass production. The challenge is to do *precise* mass production.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 12:40 AM on December 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Cytologists had been studying chromosome behavior since the late 19th century. Why did it take until 1956 to figure out the correct human chromosome number, thanks to Joe Hin Tjio and Albert Levan?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_production
There was pre-industrial mass production. The challenge is to do *precise* mass production.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 12:40 AM on December 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Yes, I think we are talking about interchangeable parts or replaceable parts, not mass production. The prerequisite for replaceable parts is economics, and for that these are necessary (but not sufficient): scientific theory, banking and gunpowder.
posted by Dr. Curare at 11:53 AM on December 16, 2020
posted by Dr. Curare at 11:53 AM on December 16, 2020
nah, the prereq for replaceable parts isn't economics, it's banking. well, banking and the printing press. gunpowder and scientific method aren't necessary for either of those advances .
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:14 PM on December 16, 2020
posted by Reclusive Novelist Thomas Pynchon at 12:14 PM on December 16, 2020
Well, mistakes are expected, I've only put a couple dozen thousand hours in the franchise.
posted by Dr. Curare at 1:07 PM on December 16, 2020
posted by Dr. Curare at 1:07 PM on December 16, 2020
If it doesn't involve interchangeable parts, it's not really mass production, it's just a bunch of craftspeople in a room individually filing parts to fit. The entire point is that it substitutes skill at operating a machine that can repeatably make a wide variety of things for skill at making specific things, each with their own individual character.
posted by wierdo at 3:16 AM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by wierdo at 3:16 AM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
You can make things like the hyper-flat Johanssen Blocks by hand, but I wonder how many steps it would take to go from there to, say, the ability to cut identical threads of a specified diameter and pitch.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:04 PM on December 17, 2020
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:04 PM on December 17, 2020
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