Much about archaeology can be described as trying to figure out the context in which objects and constructions should be interpreted. A good example of this are the metal dodecahedrons (twelve-sided shape) which have been found during archaeological excavations at former Roman sites. Since 1739 over 115 of them have been recorded, most recently a fully intact copper specimen found near the Lincolnshire village of Norton Disney during the Summer of 2023 by a local group of archaeologists.
As the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group notes on their page, this is the 33rd example of one of these items found in what was once Roman Britain, lending credence to the idea that such dodecahedrons originated within the Gallo-Roman culture.
As for the objects themselves, the ones so far found were dated to between the 2nd and 4th century CE, are all made out of some kind of metal alloy (e.g. bronze), are usually a dodecahedron but sometimes different (e.g. an icosahedron with 20 faces), yet all are hollow and usually with a single large hole in each face. The dodecahedron found at Norton Disney was analyzed to consist out of 75% copper, 7% tin and 18% lead, with a width of 8.6 cm and weighing in at 254 grams.
What is perhaps most interesting about these objects is that they can be found all across the former Roman Empire, as well as the Maritime Silk Road with similar examples found in what today is Óc Eo in Vietnam, but which used to be part of the Kingdom of Funan, as well as in Myanmar (formerly Burma). These finds generally are in the form of smaller, golden polyhedrons, albeit possessing a strong resemblance to the versions found throughout the former Roman Empire. A great overview of these Asian versions is provided by Anna T. N. Bennett in a 2009 article in Archeo Sciences.
As for the purpose of those objects, it is clear that at least the golden type was intended as decorative jewelry, possibly with some religious overtones. The ones made out of bronze and similar materials are more of a mystery, with a variety of uses suggested over the years, including as a spool knitting device, as well as a mathematical or a surveying instrument, yet none of the available sources from the era ever reference these objects, making that highly unlikely.
Ultimately it is highly likely that these objects were made and coveted primarily because people liked how they looked, which isn’t too dissimilar from how humans today pick and choose baubles to keep around, whether on shelves or as part of personal jewelry.
Some of us also like to build LED-covered dodecahedrons for fun, which is something that will have archaeologists in a few hundred years from now likely very puzzled. You can also assemble your own Gallo-Roman-style dodecahedron if you really want to throw said archaeologists for a loop.
My theroy is that these are candle toppers. The candle goes through the largest hole at the bottom with the small hole at the top holding it in place and the projections allow a dish (or other object) to be held above the flame
That theory was rejected because many can’t hold a candle. No holes.. look the third on the picture.
Also, from what I understand, candles where not the main source of lighting in that era. They would have used oil lamps. They would look nice with a candle inside them tho maybe just not historically accurate ;)
The bottom could have been as amatching set, meant to be a base. Just because they appear similar doesn’t mean they all had the same purpose.
They were for making mittens.
Already figured out. They were only ever found in northern areas of the roman empire.
And a lady who did needle work figured it out
https://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/8/89/Measure-Spaghetti-Step-2-Version-2.jpg/aid11303266-v4-728px-Measure-Spaghetti-Step-2-Version-2.jpg
It’s a pasta measuring device. Rome – Italy.
It seems to me that it’s possibly a weapon like a grenade. If you were to put a ball of oil inside and light it, then using a sling to throw it, the welded balls would keep it from hitting flat on any surface and toss fire when they struck
Another wild guess: As they don’t look easy to build, perhaps they were a common training exercise for apprentice metalsmiths.
Yes, my thoughts exactly. They’re the benchies of yore :)
That’s what I was thinking. This is somethinger metal Smiths do when they’re bored And they look like they might be a nice toy for a child. Perhaps a game of sorts. I’m gonna see if I can find one on ebay. And it does seem like maybe historians should know a little bit more than
What they’re giving us.
I quite like that concept.
+1 for that idea.
The question then is ‘how were they made?’ and as far as I know nobody has done the 3d radiological imaging to have a clue on that. They seem to have walls just about thick enough its plausible they were cast hollow, in which case I’m not sure what the training value they would hold could be. Though i suppose figuring out the work holding on such an awfully shaped casting to do the very precise holes and groove patterns could be it. But if they are assembled from many parts there is more clear stages of learning.
Either way I don’t really hold with that idea – a training exercise is very very very unlikely I’d suggest to be so universal across the many cultures that made up the empire, get traded so far as an ornament, or last quite so long as the period they seem to cover in the archaeology. Your mentor might teach that way, but folks learning somewhere else… Which suggests they must have had some purpose, and I’d doubt it was religious as there doesn’t seem to be nearly enough variations on the theme as commonly seen in other religious symbols.
They’re madew of bronze and they had extensive amounts of tin and lead around as well as experience soldering/brazing. No reason they couldn’t have been made flat and connected after the fact.
Indeed, but as far as I know nobody has actually done the research for us to know that. It could be a single piece casting, it may be an assembly of other parts with solder, heck it might just be peened together interlocking parts (though in that case I’d have expected to find a failure or weathering pattern or two in the archaeology that reveals the construction method).
Oh come on!
Romans played Dungeons and Dragons too!
B^)
Gladys is a shortsword, therefore d6. I wasn’t aware the ancient Romans had d12 weapons.
Ancient Roman soldiers were most likely to use slings, which are d4.
The Scottish Claymore or French Flamberge were d12, but not yet invented in this time period.
I guess the Romans invented munchkin min/max power gaming and Monty Haul campaigns. They had to game it out first, of course.
That leaves two questions. Why don’t we find botched ones? And why do we even find them? I’d expect something made of somewhat valuable resource, just for training, would be melted as soon as done and verified.
“Why don’t we find botched ones?”
Do you keep your failed benchys? !Ofc you melt them down and reuse them.
good question why are there no damaged ones in the ground? why are they all intact?
You can actually find a few that were found broken. (Usually the knobs broken off)
Or, perhaps it’s not a training item. Maybe they are at the very other end, a master item that only the best of the best could craft.
That would make more sense in that they are common but still quite rare.
A knitting aid for making gloves seems like an interesting theory.
Not working with the ones without holes; And I definitely seen my grandma knitting like double speed a glove without such aid. seems to be easily done with 4 sticks only….
Also knitting hadn’t been invented yet.
Weaving using ropes exists since at least 4000bc. Nets, for fishing or other usages, even hunting, or military, are even earlier. The size of the beads of the dodekahedron is compatible with a thread of similar size. The pentagons could have been a repeating pattern on a net. A lot of the time we have found weaved shoes, baskets etc, coming from the Roman era. So, i can see some space for the theory of knitting-like usage.
I have a modern day french knitting tool that makes rope but with yarn. I would like to try it out. The holes being different sizes could be the size of rope they needed.
how were they made? cast and worked or made of part joined with heat
3D printed, but Romans had to use metal alloys because plastic hadn’t been invented yet.
cast
My personal theory is that it was used for gambling, like a huge D12-D20 type dice. But the sides which had markings on it, were made of some easily decomposable material like wood, cloth, wax etc. Over time, the sides vanished and that’s why it is hard to guess it’s original usage.
I had a similar idea, not a dice, but that maybe the holes were plugged with something that has vanished. Still wouldn’t know what’s it’s for. I guess a dice or a something like that for a game is a viable option.
Yes I think they were plugged with wood. A game of sorts haven’t quite figured it out yet but I would assume after so many rolls the last one to pull the wood plug wins the game
I thought some type of game.
Same idea.
In the museum photo, they seem to have different sized holes. Perhaps a compact measuring device? Sizing people’s fingers for rings perhaps? I do like the apprentice exercise theory too.
Or a coin sorter – see if someone shaved that silver septim to cheat you in trade. Different hole, different value.
Maybe it was used by pipe fitters. It’s-a me- Mario.
Gorgeous pieces. I have an ancient, small, solid, unadorned cuboctahedron—would love to find out more about it too…
Is a ” grenade “, when slung or hand thrown against the wall of a defense unit such as a castle wall, it would shatter and the bits would strike any person close by causing harm to their person.
No. The destruction of the object (shattering) absorbs most of the energy. There us a reason, why real grenades are filled with some type of explosive.
So if it is a weapon, it would only be a blunt weapon.
Add to that: a stone is just as good of a thrown blunt projectile, and Romans did make bullets for their slingers, but they were small and dense for range and consistency.
You’d have to throw it pretty hard for the shatter to do any serious harm to anyone in the surrounding area. Conservation of energy.
Makes me think of how the Rubik’s Cube got its start. Initially, it was a brain teaser for Enro Rubik’s students. They were supposed to deduce what kind of mechanism was inside the cube that allowed the faces to move around. The teaching tool eventually became a popular puzzle toy, and the rest is history.
Amazingly, that’s not true. Go read Wikipedia.
Well, phooey. That’s what I get for trusting the Smithsonian. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/brief-history-rubiks-cube-180975911/
its was a quick assembly and dissemble joints for portable structures . providing different angles to metals or wood rod that will run through the holes
“Ultimately it is highly likely that these objects were made and coveted primarily because people liked how they looked, which isn’t too dissimilar from how humans today pick and choose baubles to keep around, whether on shelves or as part of personal jewelry.”
The “pet rocks” of their era.
“Hmm, they adorned rocks with eyes? Maybe it was some religious purpose, like “your god is watching you” kind of thing?” – That’s how archeologists in future would probably explain pet rocks…
When I saw the icosahedron (d20) pictured with the dodecahedron (d12), was like wow those Roman’s were playing D&D! The dodecahedrons are hollow, but I wonder if they could have been filled up with something (clay?) and the outside was scratched with a number/letter/color to be used in some type of game? Over the years/centuries the clay disintegrated.
During Roman times, playing D&D was considered shameful. Players often met underground in secret societies. The fact that there is no written record, just proves this. – Also, the exact usage of these dodecahedra obviously got lost, since usually players had no descendants.
funny!
Now we see the results of storing all your character sheets written on sand boxes.
If the ancient Romans had selected the superior tech of clay tablets, we could know what level they were and what equipment they had.
Totally random idea: How about as an architectural aid? You stick it on a stick (or plinth) and then stretch out lengths of twine to make sure the dimensions of the building/room are correct. Probably a stupid idea, but there you go :-)
Probably used to put herbs in such as frankincense and hang in the house or on the person for an air freshener
I actually really like the idea of a flower or herb holder because all humans smell bad throughout history.
The holes let you hang it from a string around your neck so that fresh herbs can cover the reeking bronze age stench.
Just imagine how much this helps walking down the street lined with dead bodies during a major outbreak of the Bubonic plague. This is a culturally important item!
“Never go in against a Roman when gambling is on the line.” – Vizzini (allegedly) #ThePrincessBride
must have been lots of dnd players in ancient rome.
I think they are art objects and nothing more. Even today we find them interesting to look at
it looks like some kind of tooling. a plumbing gauge perhaps, or perhaps it has some military use, say crimping bronze arrow heads to arrow or spear shafts. or for making rope. i question how much this would have cost to make and its not something you would have (or have made) unless it was essential for some kind of industry. and it would have to be some big business to justify the expense.
Gauge blocks for their 4 dimensional lathes, which have been lost to time.
They were the fidget spinner of their time. The Romans made a lot of money selling them all over the empire, even oit to Burma.
I’d be curious to read what future archaeologists will think of the fidget spinner when they’ll uncover the 1st one from the remains of our long collapsed civilization.
Nobody’s seen Raiders of the Lost Ark?
Indiana Jones put one on top of the Egyptian staff of Ra.
This one is the thing the Romans put on top of the staff of Ro.
My theory is it was an early version of a grenade. Put some glowing wood embers inside and chuck it at the thatched roof cottages of the Gauls, until Asterix and Obelix get on to you.
Why would you use valuable bronze for that when you could stuff your embers in a clay pot?
or just set a Christian on fire and catapult them
Impostor!
B^)
My first guess was also a training object as well. The “Hello World!” Or tugboat.
Well, lets also add my wild guess to this long list of comments. :)
It appears that the big holes on the inside might have/are no value/requirement. So, it appears, it’s all about the little balls on the outside. Maybe it’s simply a massage ball. Used for some sort of treatment, pain or pleasure…
Just think; somewhere in the afterlife there are thousands of Romans laughing themselves silly!
hahaha
…and these people think these things actually serve a PURPOSE! Nobody knew why they were buying these things!
Rome invented the viral fad and worldwide shipping!
The items purpose: To LAUGH! ….all the way to the bank! The item is a mercantile fad for rich people to dispose of some of their income.
“Look! MINE has 20 sides! YOURS only has 12! HA!”
Now all your old 12 sideds are JUNK! Also, you got the CRAPPY BRONZE ONES! You got TAKEN!
*MINE* are actually gold and have 20 sides! So whattaya say? How about my offer?
> Rome invented the viral fad and worldwide shipping!
But production was outsourced to the recently conquered Carthago and drop shipped from there because of much cheaper labor, until Cartaginians reverse engineered the object and built cheaper counterfeit clones to be sold around the empire. Hence the phrase “Carthago delenda est” and the start of the 3rd Punic War.
I vote for time keeping, astronomical use, calculating aid, weight, or measure. Or perhaps someone on a Roman HAD website posted the first one and these are all copies. Hackers at ancient maker spaces and their projects. I still have a sheet metal toolbox I made in 6th grade shop class (and a scar on my finger from a sharp edge). I should probably laser engrave it so future archeologists know who made it, when and why.
naw…
keep em guessing
The tool theory is thwarted by the fact that there are variations that couldn’t function in the same way as the most common model, but I think this could be explained by the tool gradually becoming a symbol of profession or office, and those non-functional items are just decorative, but based on the look of the original functional tool. This would especially fit with the jewelry. It’s like the Freemasonry has a square and a compass as their symbol.
Or they just didn’t have common standards and everyone made their own.
Like, rolling copper into smaller and smaller tubes – you pass them from the big hole through the opposite smaller hole until it’s fit for purpose.
Yeah it’s definitely not an object of utility, and the constant guessing at that belies a part of our modern culture and doesn’t illuminate the ancient one at all
So we are just going to have to take your word for it? A roman fidget spinner, you say?
Even if the purpose is purely decorative, it’s awfully specific and complex for a random ornament, and honestly, not really that pretty. You would think it’s at least representing *something* –– a model of the universe, for example, or the circles of hell, or planes of philosophy, or some mathematical concept, or whatever.
Pretty is so subjective, having personal taste and cultural bias. So to them this may have been the most wondrous thing they have seen. Plus when they were new and probably nicely polished perhaps even mirror finished coppery gold colour, maybe with deliberate accent colours in the ring patterns I’d certainly suggest it would be considered prettier by most folks today than any of the ‘paperweight’ I’ve got kicking around…
Well… it is a mathematical concept… the concept of a platonic solid, which they absolutely had.
G.M.C. Wagemans thinks they are for determining solar dates, specifically optimum dates to sew winter grain crops – which is as good or at least as compelling as other theories, and takes some of the wear characteristics of the objects into consideration. (if they were for knitting, they would have characteristic wear on the knobs)
https://www.romandodecahedron.com/the-hypothesis
and that would mean each object was customized to the correct latitude, and would explain a bit of the “nonstandard” pattern that meant it wasn’t good for, say, surveying.
Maybe they were for making large fishing nets. A jig which was rolled around from face to face, in a spiral with and a number of lengths of string or rope. The nodules could have acted as a point to tie off against and to keep a regular pattern going. Once one face had 5 tight nots surrounding the circumference of it’s face, the next pentagram would be used as a jig, secured with knots around it’s circumference. Repeat this until 5 or 6 of the faces are complete and then slid off a couple of ‘cells’ to allow a continuous repeating pattern. It would explain the differences in size, no need for them to be solid, and the small one on a necklace could easily have been charm for a fisherman’s wife. Non the less, beautiful objects made with skill.
Popular wedding gift, like the fondue pot or bread machine.
Clearly, the ancients were playing table top games before they were believed to be invented. This poses a myriad of follow-up questions: What type of crit system did they use? Did they understand advantage/disadvantage? Did they lean more toward roleplay or mechanics?
Further research required.
It’s gonna be fun for future archeologists when these same shapes are found in our jewelry at first (mostly in stone and metal, both solid and cage-like designs) but slightly later examples are found in mostly polymer (with stone and metal examples and huge variation in solidity and odd contents) with numerals carved in the faces, and even later examples are found that are just the basic shapes at man-sized or even huge, near-monumental scales but the original two classes of polyhedron objects appear to be extant in the same period.
Not saying this is the intended purpose nor that it would work in the context of historical facts. But imagine for a moment that this was an early form or gambling. The pre-pre-pre-cursor to the slot machine… you put in some coins and give it a roll. Depending on which side lands downward, more or less coins might fall out. Maybe like the “dealer” matches the player in how many coins they put in before the roll.
As someone already pointed out, there are examples with no holes. And I coins weren’t always as round as they are today.
Because the holes are of different sizes, it is not equally weighted, therefore quite unsuitable for any game of chance.
Not all games of chance expect or want entirely even results, and if you are the casino of the Roman world you want to be sure ‘The House always wins’ .
Some games for instance have 2D6 where one might use a D12 – virtually the same number of outcomes, but that single D12 its 1/12th chance for any one value, but the 2D6 are much more likely to total a number around the midpoint than 2 or 12 (assuming fair die).
The small balls on the end suggest that the object was intended to remain on one side once placed there, and quite a bit of torque would be needed to tip it to another side. The symmetry suggests that no particular orientation was “correct”. If the item had religious significance, then the 12-sides are probably affiliated with that, and there’s probably a component we aren’t seeing (incense, etc). But if the item wasn’t religious in origin, then it was obviously culturally popular in another context. The fact that we don’t find a bunch of 20-sided icosahedra nor 8-sided octahedra suggests that 12-sides was optimal for whatever the purpose was — again, if the use wasn’t religious. When it comes to the idea of it being like a die that is rolled in a game of chance, then 8 sides is too few to roll well, and 20 is just an unnecessary extra amount. The holes may have been a way to cut down on the weight.
Or, it’s just a flame speader for cooking over a small fire. Check for carbon residue.
Maybe it is just a coveted item of it’s day. Like a one inch (or larger) tungsten cube is today. They serve no real purpose but once you heft one and feel it’s mass (similar density to gold) you want to own one.
Since they were often found with coins, maybe they were used to validate that coins were real. Has someone compared the diameter and thickness of coins back then to the diameters and thickness of the holes ?
I’m going to guess that the ones without large central holes could have three wooden pegs go into the Roman Dodecahedrons with three holes to measure the diameter of coins.
Back then what metals were coins made from ? Would people be snipping/filing bits off the edges of coins to make “new” forged coins ?
Didn’t read all comments, but my theory: The holes (of the bigger ones) all seem to have different sizes, I would say its a measuring tool for something, like a bundle of strings or roll of paper… something rod-shaped.
Perhaps they’re for throwing at people who make ridiculous suggestions.
OW!
Who threw that?
Perhaps evidence for a Pythagorean cult. I’m doubtful of all the utilitarian theories
I’m thinking a construction tool for laying out angles , the ones with holes would have a stick or rod through it and then placed in the ground and then twine would be tied to different knobs depending on the angle you want.
As for the ones without hole not to sure .
Could be a model of something for educational purposes, eg an atom…in this case magnesium and calcium? Not sure about the irregular sized holes.
Could it be a toy?
Tube sizer
As there were 12 major pagan gods for the Romans, has anyone theorized it was a kind of multi-theocracy crucifix? The different size holes might indicate that gods importance?
this is interesting : https://youtu.be/lADTLozKm0I?si=dsP_UfE5xUJb90oP
this looks interesting : https://youtu.be/lADTLozKm0I?si=dsP_UfE5xUJb90oP
judging from the sizes of the holes and the orientation of the sides matching opposing sides. Coupled with the Romans desire for conquest and how far and wide these have been found, my guess is going to be that these were used to identify distance by looking through them at a landmark.
Depending on how far away an object was you would size the hole up to “fit” around your target. You could then read “roughly” how far away you were. You can see in the picture that there’s different counts of dots or rings on each side, this could be the units of distance.
I would love to get my hands on a real one to test this theory. That or maybe a scanned 3D replica I could print 😁
I think that in that period there was still a minimum of correlation between what was manufactured and the symbols, which today has almost completely disappeared. If one wants to start from this assumption, one could start from information like the following and obviously delve deeper into it.
In the Pythagorean school, the dodecahedron was linked to the shape of the Universe also because, among the Platonic solids, it is the one that comes closest to the sphere, being made up of twelve pentagons, inside which the Pythagorean pentagram is formed, and in which it is found constantly the golden ratio.
According to Plato:
“still remaining a form of composition, which is the fifth, God made use of it for the design of the universe” (Plato, The Timaeus).
Perhaps some kind of multi key?
Could it be a joint for pipes or plumbing? Could explain the various holes and sizes to get certain angles and accommodate all sizes, and the little nubs would help grip and secure.
Looks like its made to measure the amount of spaghetti needed for N persons. A useful kitchen aid.
Okay Claudius. Light the lamp.
So has anyone at all suggested scanning these things and seeing if they have any kind of residue on them i.e, paint, wax, oil, grease or anything?
I would try to do that to all of them and see if any of them have matching residual materials.
Also where were those materials found? Inside, outside, only around the spheres on the corners? This to me just seems like the logical next step to narrow down the possibilities of their probable use.
They’re some type of game pieces.
Perhaps. My theory is that it is a journeyman’s piece or a masterpiece. In my opinion, a consistent design over a longer period of time and across different cultures also supports this assumption.