The 2,100-year-old Antikythera mechanism, a system of interlocking gears and dials, is hailed as the world's oldest computer. It was discovered in a shipwreck off the coast of southern Greece in 1901.
Much about the device remains a mystery but after studying it using cutting- edge scanning equipment, researchers said they have inched closer to unveiling the secrets of the mechanism.
In a decade-long study, astrophysics professor Mike Edmunds, from the University of Cardiff, and colleagues were attempting to decipher the once hidden texts in the mechanism and confirmed that the device can track the paths and positions of planets, the sun and the moon.
The research also revealed the device may have been used to predict the future. Ancient astronomers used it to predict the color of eclipses, which may have been perceived as omens, suggesting the mechanism may have also been used for astrology.
"Certain colors might be better for what's coming than other colors," said Edmunds.
The Antikythera mechanism, which was housed in a wooden case as hinted by bits of woods found on its fragments, worked similarly to a clock. The wooden case would have had a circular face with rotating hands.
A knob or a handle on the side winds the mechanism and as the knob is turned, interlocked gearwheels drive at least seven hands to move at different speeds.
Unlike clocks whose hands represent hours, minutes and seconds, the ancient device was used to track astronomical positions and eclipses.
The hands of the mechanism represented the sun, the moon and each of the planets visible to the naked eye namely Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. A rotating black and silver ball revealed the phase of the moon.
The two dial systems at the back of the case each had a pin that followed its own spiral groove just like the needle on a record player. One of these was a calendar and the other showed the time of solar and lunar eclipses.
Researchers said the texts guide the viewers so they know the meaning of the different points and dials.
"The texts were meant to help the viewer to understand what was the meaning of all the different points and dials, what it would teach them about the cosmos that they lived in ... and about how, through cycles of time this related to their lives," said Alexander Jones, from the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.
