Must be ceremonial.
So it's a sex toy, got it.
A fertility ceremonial, got it!
Did it went up or got filled?
I always loved David Macauley take on this. He wrote a book as if people 2000 years ago found a motel and he presumed the “sanitized for your protection” banding and toilet seats would have been seen as ceremonial wear.
https://www.byanyothernerd.com/2020/04/stranger-days-39-mysteries-of-motel.html?m=1
Ehh idk about this take. I agree with the article that there are some commercial historical mediums like the History Channel that interpret the past in an absurd/almost malicious way. However modern archaeology does a really good job of finding out how objects from the past were used and how people interacted with their environment. A toilet is not really gonna be up for debate as for what its use was. Historical text, fecal remains, toilets looking pretty similar for the past thousand years, is gonna tell you it’s a toilet.
The notion of our interpretation of the past being completely flawed is kinda true if it was like the 1950s and we were talking about non-western cultures from a western perspective.
I remember reading a book as a kid, I can't remember if it was this or maybe inspired by this, but adapted for kids (iirc the art style was more cartoony and comedic) where archeologists unearth a motel called the Toot and C'mon.
Edit: after a bit of searching I think it was this book. Unlocked some memories I didn't realize I had.
What if instead toilet seats become a symbol for a group of genetically engineered super soldiers known for being Mary Sues?
Underrated joke
Archeologists after looking at literally anything: Looks like a calendar. Or maybe a religious object. Or maybe a calendar of religions significance.
People back then loved their religious calendars. That's all they ever talked about. Whole books could be written about them.
But instead of books to write about them, they documented their love of religious calendar artifacts, with more calendar artifacts.
Always love seeing these come up and everyone confidently stating that it's been solved. Everything from a knitting tool (highly unlikely as the Romans didn't knit) to a dice. The truth is we just don't know and likely never will unless a new source .
Personally I'm convinced by the theory that they're probably a metalworkers portfolio piece used to demonstrate the creators skill, either to potential customers or as a test to join a guild.
It's a Roman plumbus.
I always wondered how they made those
with lead probably
Everyone Roman has one
This is why there was no need to write about it.
A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON
Nope.
Haha, they don't know how to use the three dodecahedron's.
They've actually all been planted by time travelers just to fuck with people.
This is why I couldn't have a time machine. I'd go back in time and fuck with people. Leave a modern day Bic pen deep in a cave in New Zealand, or a randomly shaped object with no clear use made from something like titanium in a forest in the middle of Brazil.
Panic Pete
I just assume it's a random doodad. Like a desk decoration or something. Why wouldn't ancient people have had dumb bullshit that served no purpose other than it's aesthetic value just like we do now?
... Art?
It could also have been used for a game
Knitting
People say this every time, and it’s still not true, because the Romans didn’t knit. Knitting is a technology and it hadn’t made it to Rome at the time these were made.
Also, some were solid and unsuitable for knitting. And they were found with giant piles of money, which is a weird place to keep your domestic tools.
Knitting metal: https://youtu.be/lADTLozKm0I?si=pKQ8Dwt7wriapdni
knitting what? the ones that have been recovered were way too big to make sense for that purpose
Knitting metal: https://youtu.be/lADTLozKm0I?si=pKQ8Dwt7wriapdni
Knitting is a medieval development that originated around Egypt in probably 1000-1100 CE (AD). There is no evidence of two needle knitting before then.
Romans used sprang, weaving and needlebinding techniques. They did not knit. Some needlebound artifacts can resemble knitting - particularly those in the Coptic stitch. They are still produced using the thumb and needle method of needlebinding and are structurally different.
The type of knitting that YouTube grandma did on the dodecahedron - spool knitting/French knitting - is an even later development - early modern period - 1400-1500s.
As a spool knitter, the dodecahedron makes very little sense. The spacing of the pegs - not the spacing of the holes - is what determines the size of the created tube. Every face of the dodecahedron would create the same size tube - which means you’ve just got extra random pointless shit digging into your hands. Google and compare to a modern spool knitter.
The idea of making a doohickey for fingered gloves, which you would then need to sew on anyway (every knitters least favorite thing to do) - it’s silly.
Here are some 4th/5th century socks - produced via needlebinding.
Here is the earliest known example of true knitting. 1000 at earliest.
You mentioned that not all socks would survive - that is true, but often textile patterns can be recovered through indentions in other material.
Spaghetti portion measurer.
Are we entirely sure it's not just an ornament? I've got all kinds of things that aren't even ritual objects.
That is not an uncommon guess, but the argument against it is that these took some sophistication to make. This isn't some disposable gewgaw. These were made with relatively tight tolerances and exhibited the best metalworking fabrication of the age. One theory I've seen seriously floated was that they were made as a demonstration of metal working competency, the equivalent of a benchy in 3D printing.
If that's the case, it could have been a craftsman's magnum opus. A certification you prominently display to show your wares aren't forgeries.
Maybe they're just like the ancient equivalent of the fancy expensive gaudy crystal pieces you can get today.
https://www.swarovski.com/en-US/p-5619218/Jungle-Beats-Parrot-Couple-Bell-Brio/
God so many better ways to spend $1800
They probably just have no practical purpose.
Are you asserting that an ornament can't be categorized as a religious artifact? Cuz if so, I (or you) have some explaining to do.
Also, I think people have found them on people's bodies and in their purses, indicating it's something they might carry around regularly.
What if it's a die for an ancient version of D&D? Labyrinths & Minotaurs. Or that thing you put treats in and then your dog rolls it around and gets a biccy every so often.
Cave canem
Romanes eunt domus!
Obviously it's a key that needs to be inserted into an ancient titan robot to power it back up.
What an utterly ridiculous notion. Obviously it's a magical battery that, once charged, can be inserted into an ancient titan robot to power it back up.
https://youtu.be/lADTLozKm0I?si=pKQ8Dwt7wriapdni
Seems pretty convincing and matches gold bracelets made in the era.
I've actually seen an old lady knit gloves with one as well.
This is, by far, the most compelling theory I've seen.
Given that those things were so common, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other uses people have theorized could have happened too.
All we know for certain is that at some point that thing was on some bored Romans knob.
We could use the ample DNA samples he's provided to bring him back and ask him
My ancient roman friend says it's a candle holder for different sized candles
It's probably some kids workshop assignment that he brought home to his parents.
Except there's heaps of them
Part of a standardized curriculum
That's a Prime Resonator from Path of Exile
Looks like a bigass thundercube to me. Don't wanna fiddle with them too much, they might get krangled.
I thought it was a dowel sizing tool for standardized construction.
Why wouldn't you use a simple flat metal bar, or even a ring shaped bar, with standard holes in it?
That doesn't make sense. Why not just make it dodecahedral shaped and have little tear drop knobs at every vertici?
Artistic embellishment.
Actual guess after hearing that they're found with money. Used it to check size of coins for valuation? Sort of like how some coin counters with?
A piggy bank even?
It’s obviously a dick-measuring tool
Looks like a githyanki artifact used to protect from illithid.
BG3 spoiler
There's definitely nobody trapped in there, it's all completely fine with no ethical considerations whatsoever.
Here's my contribution to the 'what the fuck are these things' guesses:
Its a customizable, weighted D12.
You stick the coins into the slots, then do some kind of gambling involving dice rolls.
Part of the game is that as coins are added or removed, the weighting changes.
Hell, it could be that you take turns tossing the thing till its full of coins, thrower has to fill the hollow upward facing hole, as a way of anteing up, then just toss it again untill its empty, thrower takes out the upward facing coin, everyone takes a drink when it lands with a hollow slot face up.
The educated, literate people probably wouldn't bother to write down the exact details of a low class gambling game, when literacy is rare and scrolls/books are expensive.
The things have reportedly often been found in cabinets and drawers alongside coins.
They vary in size... maybe some of the rather large ones could be commissioned as not a practical gambling die, but as an exxageratedly large one, as a trophy or ornament, like modern mall ninja swords or funko pops or something.
Possibly they could also serve a practical purpose for normal people and coin minters to check that their coins are properly sized.
Any... Roman numismatists here that can sanity check this, in terms of coin sizes?
The educated, literate people probably wouldn’t bother to write down the exact details of a low class gambling game, when literacy is rare and scrolls/books are expensive.
Interesting enough, the Roman Emperor Claudius, who was an enthusiastic dicer, wrote a book on gaming/gambling. It's been lost to time, unfortunately.
Literacy is a funny question in regards to the Roman Empire, as is the price of scrolls/books. There's limited evidence that scrolls and books were actually cheaper in the Roman Empire than in the 15th century AD, just before and in-the-early-days-of moveable type, and that urban literacy was fairly widespread. The big problem is that the vast majority of ancient writing simply has not survived the ages.
I'm not well-informed about the dodecahedrons or the theories surrounding them, but I'm inclined to find your explanation, while interesting, probably a bit too complex. Especially considering that coins were often slightly irregular in shape, as the mass-produced neat, perfect circles that we're used to are a result of modern milled coinage
Ah well, worth a shot.
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it's an oil lamp.
use discs with or without holes to adjust brightness.
