Often when one of these ingenuously conceived & impeccably crafted devices is unearthed [1], one wonders about not only the provenance, the period and the relative brilliance of such contraptions but also the initial impetus for the actual making of the device.

One cannot help themselves from wondering

  * what prevailing mores - and pressures - led to the devising 
   of such relatively complex gadgets. 
  * what the availability of skilled labor was in those times
  * how expensive or cheap such (bonded ?) labor was
  * how freely or sparsely knowledge was shared in those times
  * how guilds & ancestral orders controlled the dissemination 
  of such knowledge & trade-craft, often limiting it to very few
  trusted members outside the immediate family or clan, after
  decades of indentured internship and servitude.
  * what other existential pressures the inventor faced in the 
  making of the contraption Eg. Sedition laws, Canon law etc.

I tend to think that most of the inventors of these devices made them under some form of extreme duress or state sanction - not very unlike say the much-debated working conditions that prevailed during the construction of the Pyramids [2].

I am somehow inclined to believe that they did not enjoy the same somewhat lofty treatment bestowed on painters, architects and sculptors.

This is semi-informed speculation.

I'd love to read more on the topic from scholarly sources.

[1] The Antikythera Mechanism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpLcnAIpVRA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eUibFQKJqI

[2] Who Built the Pyramids?

http://harvardmagazine.com/2003/07/who-built-the-pyramids-ht...

Edit: formatting