Pointed out that the 'Antikythera Mechanism' had too many errors and may have been just a toy

By Gary Todd

The Antikythera Mechanism is a bronze gear mechanism from ancient Greece that was discovered in a sunken ship near the Mediterranean island of Antikythera in 1901. New research suggests that the Antikythera Mechanism had an unacceptably high margin of error and may have been merely a toy.

[2504.00327] The Impact of Triangular-Toothed Gears on the Functionality of the Antikythera Mechanism
https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.00327

Mysterious Antikythera Mechanism May Actually Be a Toy, Study Says : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-antikythera-mechanism-may-actually-be-a-toy-study-says

The Antikythera mechanism has a complex system of interconnected gears and is believed to have been a machine that calculated the movements of the stars and planets, as well as solar eclipses. A 2024 study of holes in the Antikythera mechanism suggested that it may have represented the ancient Greek calendar (lunisolar calendar).

The possibility that the mysterious OOPARTS 'Antikythera Mechanism' was a 'lunar calendar' has emerged - GIGAZINE

Now, in a paper published on arXiv, a preprint server for unpeer-reviewed papers, a research team from the National University of Mar del Plata in Argentina has reported the results of simulating the operation of the Antikythera Mechanism.

The team combined their analysis of the uneven motion caused by the triangular teeth on the gears of the Antikythera Mechanism with a model of manufacturing errors identified by Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University in a 2011 paper , to develop a calculation program to simulate the behaviour of the gears.

A comprehensive calculation program was used to study the operation of the Antikythera Mechanism and showed that while the errors introduced by the triangular teeth were negligible, any manufacturing inaccuracies would greatly increase the chances of the gears jamming or falling off.

'Under our assumptions, the errors identified by Professor Edmunds exceed the tolerance limits needed to prevent failure. As a result, either the machine did not function at all or the actual errors were smaller than those reported by Professor Edmunds,' the team wrote.

The research team acknowledged that their work is partly speculative, but said: 'Our results highlight the need for further research and more sophisticated techniques to better understand the true accuracy and functionality of the Antikythera Mechanism.'

As the research team points out, only fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism have been discovered, and although a reconstruction model of the entire mechanism has been created in the past, there are still many unknowns about its actual structure.

A restored model is created to reveal the structure of the world's oldest computer, the Antikythera Mechanism, created before the Common Era - GIGAZINE

Meanwhile, science media Science Alert argues that while the study contains speculation, it is enough to raise questions about whether the Antikythera Mechanism was truly a work of genius or merely decorative. 'The new research suggests that the device may simply have been an elaborate toy,' it wrote.