Posted on 11/23/2018 3:21:10 PM PST by SunkenCiv
This week, word began to spread around some corners of the web that a new piece of the legendary ancient Greek computer known as the Antikythera Mechanism may have been found. But the claims, which surfaced following a Haaretz feature on the ongoing archaeological work in the area where the device was first uncovered, are misleading at best...
...in 2017... marine archaeologists from the Greek Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities and Lund University in Sweden uncovered more treasures including pieces of a bronze statue and an encrusted bronze disk with four tabs on it that appeared almost like a cog wheel. That piece, called the Taurus disk because it bears the image of a bull, is the artifact that Haaretz identified as a possible part of the mechanism...
...X-rays of the disk conducted last year revealed that image of the bull and the four holes... Sarah Gibbens of National Geographic wrote that the small disk was "reminiscent" of the Antikythera Mechanism, but that expedition co-leader Aggeliki Simossi said it was unclear what its purpose was...
While Haaretz and others reported the bull image suggests the disc was used... to predict the position of the constellation Taurus, it does not appear to be finely crafted enough function as a cog wheel in the precision machine...
...we are learning more about the ship it sailed on. It was likely a massive Greek grain ship, one of the largest ancient ships ever found, as archaeologist Brendan Foley, who led the new expeditions, tells Haaretz. At the times of its sinking, which likely happened in a storm, it was probably full of grain, statues and wealthy passengers, perhaps one who clung to his prized gadget as he sank into the sea.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
I know a marine biologist if that counts.
So they *want* us to think!
In reality, it’s probably just a real fancy sausage grinder.
I never sausage skepticism in my life.
They could have been carrying just about anything for ballast, as ships did for centuries. A big grain carrier would ride pretty high on a return voyage.
Casson writes that the return trip of the grain ships, actually their trip both ways, was the preferred way for those in the know (and with the money) to travel to and from Egypt -- the ships were huge, and voyages take time, basically they were the ocean liners of their time, people took sun on the decks, played games, etc.
Dream proposal: Greek island of Antikythera will pay you to live there
TornosNews.gr 23.12.2018 | 22:08
Antikythera is a tiny Greek island located between Crete and the Peloponnesian Peninsula
Antikythera is a small Greek island in the Aegean just opposite from Kythera, a larger island, and it is located approximately halfway between Crete and the Peloponnese. Despite their remote location, both Kythera and Antikythera belong administratively to the Greek capital. They are both part of the Attica region, which has its heart in the Athens metropolitan area.
The island has three settlements — Potamos, which is the island’s capital, Galanianá and Charchalianá.
Since the project to attract young families to the island was made public, more than fifteen different families have called the local council to fond out further details of the plan.
The council president notes that local people are willing to host whoever would like to come and visit the island to gain a hands-on experience of its way of life. This is considered important in order for families to be able to make a sound decision about moving there permanently.
Antikythera is famous globally for an ancient bronze machine which was discovered there in a shipwreck in April, 1900 by a group of sponge divers. Christened by archaeologists ”The Antikythera Machine”, it is actually an ancient analog computer used to predict astronomical positions as well as eclipses of the planets.
Able to predict such events decades in advance, it is regarded as one of the greatest scientific treasures ever found.
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