Mysterious? I thought this is a solved problem. Especially also taking into account the boarders of the Roman Empire and the places where they were found. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76AvV601yJ0
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Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
161–170 of 403 posts
Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
#162My favorite thing about archaeology is that if they have no idea whatever about the things they find. . . >were used for ritualistic or religious purposes Don't know what it is? Religion baby.
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Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
#163Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The knitting with the finger growing inside the dodec looks unhelpful and implausible There are also examples without the big holes in, which would make knitting pretty much impossible.
> There are also examples without the big holes in, which would make knitting pretty much impossible. Gloves for children?
See the icosahedron here for example
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dodecahedron#/media/File...
Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
#164My favorite thing about archaeology is that if they have no idea whatever about the things they find. . . >were used for ritualistic or religious purposes Don't know what it is? Religion baby.
Similarly the overuse evolutionary biology. Obviously this ... seemingly useless feature must have been ... crucial to survival of this species. I guess Thomas Kuhn calls this ordinary science. Explanation within the framework. But it's incredibly dull
I mean, in general, yes that is true in biology.
The energy required to maintain bodily structures mean that they tend to be relevant to evolutionary fitness. There are very few structures that are entirely irrelevant, even if the specific difference in form between different populations may be the result of genetic drift.
That said, I think your example would work by replacing it with "sexual selection." Don't know why bird feathers have complex micro-structures allowing them to reflect UV light? Let's just call it "sexual selection."
Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
#165Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m not sure why there’s always so much focus on purpose. People build objects of geometric fascination as art objects all the time. I agree with you that there need not be any religious significance here.
Agree, why does it always have to be a religious object if an object doesn't have a clear and distinct purpose attached to it. I guess when future archeologist dig up our junk they'd believe we were an extremely religious society, with many superstitions and strange beliefs. /s
"Ritualistic" doesn't mean "religious".
All it means is that the way the object was used has no relation to the functionality of the object itself.
Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
#166Having given my brother a Tungsten cube once for Christmas, it's possible they just made these because they were fun and looked cool.
Metals were very resource and labour intensive to make in those days, I don't think there was much making these for laughs and giggles. That also would would not explain why they are only found in the colder parts of the roman empire.
Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
#167I like the theory that it's an examination piece to qualify as a master metalworker. Casting a flawless dodecahedron could have been a way to demonstrate your skill. The shape is somewhat arbitrary: anything that's both difficult to cast and easy to examine for quality would work, but once people started making dodecahedrons that's what people expected and it became a kind of standard.
That just doesn't work for me for two reasons, they would have been recycled almost immediately as all metals were relatively precious, and why don't we find as many other training pieces? And of course it goes without saying that they've appeared made out of non-metal materials.
There are numerous tokens that people hold on to even to this day, especially if it's a token symbolizing 'coming of age'.
Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
#168Not the most credible theory, but it reminds me of the "Hedgehog in the cage" mechanical puzzle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog_in_the_Cage
So maybe there's a wooden/metal piece that goes inside, and the challenge is to get it out?
Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
#169Earlier quoted context omitted.
We never canceled other religious names in our calendar, including the months named after Roman gods or the days of the week named after Nordic / Celtic gods.
The problem becomes more evident if you write the meaning out in full: "anno domini nostri Christi", or the year of our lord Christ. Recognizing Jesus Christ as lord obviously presents some theological issues to non-christians. Saying Wednesday doesn't have the same issue of recognizing Odin's divinity.
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Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
The cities likely had some form of guild system to prove claims like this. The middle of nowhere you could prove yourself with a standardized piece of work. ___ Though personally I like the "glove grandma" video of her crocheting gloves with the pieces.
The knitting aid is persuasive. It fits with the geography, explains the different hole sizes, and it explains the knobs. Here's one of those vids; there are many more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76AvV601yJ0
I don't really buy that theory. There's no explanation for why it needs to be this very-hard-to-cast bronze dodecahedron, instead of just a wooden board with pegs and holes, which is all that would be needed for the video above.