What ancient device, found in a Greek shipwreck, is often called the world’s first analogue computer?

The Antikythera mechanism is the ancient device often called the world’s first analogue computer.

Divers recovered it in 1901 from a Roman-era shipwreck near the Greek island of Antikythera. The corroded bronze object was initially difficult to understand, but later imaging revealed a complex arrangement of interlocking gears and inscriptions. It dates to approximately the second or early first century BCE.

The mechanism could model astronomical cycles, including the positions of the Sun and Moon and the phases of the Moon. Its dials also tracked the Metonic cycle, a period of 19 solar years corresponding closely to 235 lunar months, and helped predict the timing of eclipses. A calendar and indicators for Panhellenic games have also been identified.

No other ancient machine of comparable complexity is known. The device does not prove that ancient people had modern computers; rather, it was a hand-powered mechanical calculator built for astronomical prediction. Researchers continue to debate details of its original display and functions.