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Actually, that source claims it’s a string puzzle.
The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
61–70 of 103 posts
Re: The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
#62[dead]
It says in the article that it's a string toy for finding a Hamiltonian cycle?
Re: The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
#63The article fails to mention a major hypothesis that immediately came to mind when I saw the object. Wikipedia agrees [1]: > It has also been suggested that they might have been an object to test the skill of a metalsmith, perhaps as part of a portfolio to demonstrate their capabilities to customers or as a way to qualify for a certain status in a collegium (guild). This speculation is based on the historic cost of b…
I think the major argument against this theory is the map, as the article states. Most of the theories for their use are actually invalid simply by looking at the map of finds. Fishing, toys, music, games, things that were global in the roman empire. What the map shows is that it was used in the colder parts of the empire.
> Fishing, toys, music, games, things that were global in the roman empire.
I'm fairly certain that every-day practices for all of these things were far from universal across the empire; it's a huge assumption to think that, especially considering that we don't actually know all that much about some of these thing and that we don't know what we don't know (e.g. it was only a few months ago that they found evidence of gladiator fights in Britain; it's entirely possible – even likely – that there were wide-spread well-known games in some regions that we just don't know about).
I'm not saying it can't be related to heat, but I wouldn't be so quick to jump to that conclusion based solely on the location where these things were found.
Re: The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
#64[dead]
Your friends blog article doesn’t appear to even mention a calendar?
Re: The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
#65[deleted]
Re: The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
#66They were used to measure the amount of pasta noodles depending on the amount of expected guests. Way more elegant than what we have from ikea today. Another theory of mine is a candle holder which adapts to stump size.
Interesting, I was thinking perhaps it was to hold soft boiled eggs such that it was convenient to dip strips of buttered toast into the yolk.
Re: The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
#67The 20 sided one was forsure for their ancient version of Dungeons and Dragons
Re: The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
#68The article fails to mention a major hypothesis that immediately came to mind when I saw the object. Wikipedia agrees [1]: > It has also been suggested that they might have been an object to test the skill of a metalsmith, perhaps as part of a portfolio to demonstrate their capabilities to customers or as a way to qualify for a certain status in a collegium (guild). This speculation is based on the historic cost of b…
Then why are there ones made of stone?
Re: The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
#69My immediate assumption is that they're probably a sort of non-wearable jewelry in the same vein as globus crucigers and fabergé eggs.
> globus crucigers
that is a holy hand grenade
Re: The mysterious dodecahedrons of the Roman Empire
#70The article fails to mention a major hypothesis that immediately came to mind when I saw the object. Wikipedia agrees [1]: > It has also been suggested that they might have been an object to test the skill of a metalsmith, perhaps as part of a portfolio to demonstrate their capabilities to customers or as a way to qualify for a certain status in a collegium (guild). This speculation is based on the historic cost of b…
Then why are there ones made of stone?
to test the skill of a stonesmith