
There’s a 1,200-year-old Phone in the Smithsonian Collections - mdturnerphys
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/ideas-innovations/Theres-a-1200-year-old-Phone-in-the-Smithsonian-Collections-231152081.html
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lifeisstillgood
I think we radically underestimate the sheer volume of technology that
predates 1500 Europe. (Roughly where we count the modern western world
from.maybe)

From the Antikythera mechanism to Hero's steam engines, model planes in Mexico
and ball bearings on Roman emperors ships, humans did not lack invention, but
what bound the modern world together was not better inventors but cheap
printing and wider distribution of those ideas so they would not die out when
one location failed.

I suspect that civilisations occur when they make the retention and spread of
ideas pass a critical mass (ie the empire provides sufficient protection that
an idea created in one place can find a home elsewhere in the empire (comms
network)

~~~
aristus
Tossed off in the middle of James Burke's connections, while he's driving a
French postal van up a mountain on the way to tell the story about the
discovery of the vacuum, is exactly this point. As people communicate faster
and more reliably, knowledge spreads and advances.

[http://www.transcriptsearch.com.es/id/w-pBZThdndI](http://www.transcriptsearch.com.es/id/w-pBZThdndI)

grep for "postbox of europe"

~~~
dredmorbius
I've got to mention: Burke's entire ouvre is available on YouTube (as best I
can tell posted by the man himself).

I've been tremendously enjoying re-visiting his original series, _Connections_
, and viewing _The Day the Universe Changed_ for the first time. Connections2
has been a bit of a let-down (too commercial and rushed with 22 minute
episodes, and retreading much of his earlier material) though it too has its
moments. I haven't gotten to Connections3 yet. I _highly_ recommend at least
the first two, which _very_ much focus on how ideas develop, spread, and
emerge.

[https://www.youtube.com/user/JamesBurkeConnection](https://www.youtube.com/user/JamesBurkeConnection)

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raverbashing
What about a fax machine from 1800

The Pantelegrafo
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLhWSb8pcB8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLhWSb8pcB8)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantelegraph](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantelegraph)

~~~
SectioAurea
1860, but still very cool. Thanks for the link!

I note that banking apparently drove the entrenchment of the technology: "The
most common use of the Pantelegraph was for signature verification in banking
transactions."

Bonelli's Typotelegraph is also an 1862-era invention:
[http://www.hffax.de/hauptteil_faxhistory-
Dateien/Caselli02.g...](http://www.hffax.de/hauptteil_faxhistory-
Dateien/Caselli02.gif) (from
[http://www.hffax.de/html/hauptteil_faxhistory.htm](http://www.hffax.de/html/hauptteil_faxhistory.htm))

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aashaykumar92
Though it is fascinating how old such an artifact is, it doesn't at all
surprise me that such a communication device was invented and used during
ancient times. Going from the picture, the 'phone' doesn't look too
sophisticated but has the functionality that justifies its utility for an
ancient civilization.

~~~
a3n
Perhaps not surprising, but fascinating to think of how it went from "doesn't
exist" to "connect two gourds with twine, speak and listen." When it didn't
exist, what phenomenon or technology might have provided the hint that
connecting two gourds together would transmit sound?

~~~
diydsp
In researching the history of musical instruments, I discovered that many
distant cultures independently developed hunting bows and it is believed these
are the original of stringed instruments.

So, the concept of a taught string bound to a resonating body, simple as it is
may have been a precursor.

It is possible gourds where used as mounting points on some of the
contraptions, and the ability of hollow spaces to resonate was probably
already known... which leads to Capoeira-like instruments...

but the next leap of getting the thing to pick up voice is imo a larger
conceptual leap. Of course, by then, written language was widespread and ideas
could maintain a bit more momentum...

Yet still, notice how the bottom of the cup is of a different material and not
tightly coupled to the rest of the cup. It's attached with a woven or knitted
"sock." That's where energy leaves the system instead of bouncing energy back
into the twine like bows. That's a great conceptual leap, considering it's not
totally obvious to most people today how the bridge of stringed instrument
works :)

I imagine they had built large string and hollow-body resonator
combinations...

Yet it's yet another step to make it "input-"sensitive to human voice :)

~~~
jacalata
It mentions that this was a culture without written language. I wonder if that
was important - once you develop writing, it might be easier to pass notes
than invent this.

~~~
droithomme
The Incas that followed them had recorded language. I doubt it is really known
positively that Chimu had no recorded language. There are quite a few peoples
groups in the western hemisphere for which it is commonly asserted by
outsiders they had no recorded language, but once you start studying them at
all, you find they have a recorded language.

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ajays
But is it really a telephone? Could the purpose of these two gourds on a
string have been something else? I'm not discounting the engineering prowess
of the Chimu, but sometimes one has to be careful assigning modern-day
interpretations to ancient artifacts.

~~~
coldtea
> _Could the purpose of these two gourds on a string have been something
> else?_

Nope, the design and structure of it, simple as it is, are pretty telling.

~~~
qbrass
A single gourd on a string is a musical instrument in several cultures.

I don't think that's the case here, but it might have been how it was
invented.

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tokenadult
Thanks for sharing. My history of technology professor at the University of
Minnesota used to speak of the "precocious technology" of Medieval Europe, in
which artisans often invented devices that could not be fully explained by the
science of the time. Precocious technology is, of course, a worldwide
phenomenon and a phenomenon from all eras (including our own). The astonishing
artifact reported on here has very unclear provenance--it's not clear how it
passed into the hands of the collector from whose collection it came into the
Smithsonian museums. Moreover, the lack of writing in the culture of origin at
the time the artifact is thought to have been made means there is no history
(written records) to supplement archaeology for inferences about the cultural
role of the artifact. But it is a thought-provoking find all the same, and an
example of what else might be missing from the archaeological record.

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vezzy-fnord
The Antikythera mechanism still remains by far the most fascinating ancient
artifact.

That and Heron's steam engine.

~~~
Bulkington
Aside: the ship using the AM sank.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism)

The more interesting questions: Was the ship's sinking the loss of a one-off
prototype? Was the device blamed/abandoned, even if not at fault?
Craftsmanship suggests it wasn't an early version--but where are the others?

On topic: humans are no more smart today than they were 2000 years ago; they
just have better tools. Nanos gigantum humeris insidentes,someone once said.

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PaulAJ
It seems in improbably good condition for something over 1000 years old and
made of organic components, so given its somewhat vague provenance I'd like
something to confirm its age. Has it been carbon dated?

~~~
nl
_It seems in improbably good condition for something over 1000 years old and
made of organic components_

Not at all. Dry climates means things keep well if they aren't disturbed.
Witness, for example, 3000 year old leather sandals[1], or a 5500 year old
shoe[2]

There are plenty of woven clothes much older than 1200 years, too[3].

However, none of the supposed woollen/felt clothes and hangings[4] from Catal
Huyuk have survived. That puts a limit of around 8000 years on the life of
wool.

[1]
[http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_ob...](http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/p/pair_of_childs_leather_sandals.aspx)

[2]
[http://news.nationalgeographic.com.au/news/2010/06/100609-wo...](http://news.nationalgeographic.com.au/news/2010/06/100609-worlds-
oldest-leather-shoe-armenia-science/)

[3]
[http://www.turkotek.com/salon_00118/salon2.html](http://www.turkotek.com/salon_00118/salon2.html)

[4]
[http://www.marlamallett.com/chupdate.htm](http://www.marlamallett.com/chupdate.htm)

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dredmorbius
There's no mention in the article of any testing based on a replica or
reproduction of the design -- does anyone know if this has been done?

(The article does mention that the artifact itself is too delicate to test.)

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joshguthrie
Someone somewhere is happy the Smithsonian finally found his lost phone. But
that someone would like to get it back.

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whitehat2k9
Hi yes this is Indian

~~~
coldtea
If by Indian you mean "native american indians of Peru", then yes.

