Mysterious Roman Dodecahedron
In 1739, a strange object, which looked like a dodecahedron, was unearthed in a field at Aston, Hertfordshire, England. For the uninitiated, a dodecahedron is a solid having twelve (12) equally sized pentagonal faces.
Though the object found in the field had the shape of a regular dodecahedron, it was hollow, and each of its 12 pentagonal faces had circular cut-outs of varying sizes and small globular knobs at all of the 20 vertices. Historians and archaeologists were unable to identify the purpose of this object.
Subsequently, more than 110 such objects have been found in various locations, mainly in Wales, England, Belgium, France, Germany, and Hungary. These areas (location map) were once part of the Gallo-Roman empire, hence the name "Roman dodecahedron". All these finds pertained to the 2nd to 4th centuries AD. These artefacts have sizes varying from 4 to 11 centimetres (1.6 to 4.3 inches), with holes varying in size from 6 to 40 mm (0.2 to 1.5 in). The majority of these are made of cast copper alloy, though some are of stone or silver. Many of the finds have grooves at the periphery of the circular holes and/or at the edges of the surface.
Even after the passage of almost 3 centuries, the Roman dodecahedron has remained an enigma for historians and archaeologists. There is no mention in the records/writings of that era about the artefact itself or its origin and purpose. There are many speculative theories about the purpose of these objects. Some of the conjectures are;
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A toy for children.
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Some sort of calendar for calculating the spring and fall equinoxes, as well as the ideal time to plant wheat, etc.
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Candle stand. (One of the retrieved artefacts included wax residue. This, however, has been disputed, as many feel that the wax may be remnants of wax blocks which may have been used to cast these dodecahedrons.
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Some type of device, especially for military purposes, to survey ground and determine distances or to calculate the size and distance of artillery ammunition.
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A religious or mystical item. One artefact was found in a grave.
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Some type of talisman, as a few of these were found along with coins and gold of that era.
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Some sort of dice for some undiscovered game.
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Water pipe calibration gauge.
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An astrological tool. A dodecahedron discovered in Geneva in 1982 had the Latin names of the 12 Zodiac signs written on it.
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Some sort of musical apparatus.
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A tool for knitting mittens: An offbeat but plausible theory. Perhaps the holes were meant for fingers of different thicknesses. It is noteworthy to note that all the finds were in cold regions. This YouTube video shows how to knit a mitten using a dodecahedron.
Due to the unsolved mysteriousness of the Roman dodecahedron, few cities where these artefacts were discovered have erected monuments to it.
Roman dodecahedron at Hunt Museum, Limerick, Ireland.
Image Source:
Wikimedia Commons
Roman dodecahedron at the Gallo-Roman Museum of Tongeren, Belgium.
Image from Flickr
is by TimeTravelRome
Monument at Tongeren, Belgium.
Image from
Wikimedia Commons is by Wim Deprez
Monument at Schwarzenacker Roman Museum, Homburger, Germany.
Image from
Wikimedia Commons
is by Lokilech
Monument at Hamburg Station - Homburg(Saar)Hbf, Germany.
Image from Google Maps
is by Chris
Kubica Saarland Photography
Google Maps (Street View not available at this location.)
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