ANCIENT ARTIFACTS

                             

1) THE LONDON HAMMER - a tool older than history 

                                       

                            

In June 1936 (or 1934 according to other sources) Max Hahn and his wife Emma were on a walk along the course of the Red Creek near the town of London when they noticed a rock with wood projecting from its core. They decided to take the irregularity home and later cracked it open with a hammer and chisel. What they found within seemed to be an archaic hammer of some sort. They decided to turn in the entity to a group of archaeologists, who checked it and revealed the rock encasing the hammer was dated to the Ordovician - more than 400 million years ago. According to initial measurements, the hammer itself turned out to be more than 500 million years old. Apparently,  it is so old that a section of the handle is transforming into coal.

What was it used for?

The metal head is approximately 6 inches (15 centimeters) long and has a diameter of 1 in (25mm), leading some to suggest that this hammer was not used for large objects but rather for fine work and soft metals. The metal of the hammerhead has been confirmed to consist of 96.6% Iron, 2.6% Chlorine, 0.74% Sulphur. The hammerhead has not rusted since its discovery in the 1930s.

2) THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM - an ancient Greek computer

 

                             

The Antikythera mechanism has been labeled the first mechanical computer, which was found in a shipwreck off a Greek island of Antikythera, buried under 45 meters of water.

 It consists of a box with dials on the outside and a very complex assembly of gear wheels mounted within. It is as complex as an 18-century top-notch clock. The level of sophistication employed by the device has forced scientists to change their perceptions of ancient Greek engineering. Nothing similar to this construction exists or has been mentioned anywhere in the writings from the period of its creation. 

This sort of complexity and workmanship did not appear in Europe until the development of mechanical astronomical clocks in the fourteenth century... so how did the ancient greeks manage to build such a complicated device with basically no technology available? It has not been figured out - yet. 

What was it used for?

The Antikythera mechanism was the world's first analogical computer, used by ancient greeks to catalog the movement and positions of the sun, moon, planets, predict lunar and solar eclipses, and even signal the next Olympics. This astronomical calculator could also divide, multiply, add, and subtract.

3) THE SAQQARA BIRD - an Egyptian plane

           

                              

    

The Saqqara bird was discovered during the 1898 excavation of the Pa-di-Imen tomb in Saqqara, Egypt. It is a bird-shaped artifact (as you may have noticed) carved out from the wood of a Sycamore tree. It weighs just under 40 grams and a wingspan of more than 7 inches, it goes back to 200 BC - 2200 years ago. The Egyptians were well aware of the principles of aviation but it is not certain what this artifact translated to. The Saqqara Bird is just one of the tiny parts of the many theories concerning the possibilities of lost ancient technology.

What was it used for? 

The purpose of this artifact is not quite certain as many archaeologists and parapsychologists could not conclude if this was one of the first models of an aircraft or just a simple little wooden bird toy of an Egyptian child or something in between?