Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England

smithsonianmag.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

391–400 of 403 posts

Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England

#391

Post by Khaine »

rickcecil wrote: post #32
zilti wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is CE the same as AD?

CE means “common era” which refers to the same time period that AD does, which stands for Anno Domini and means “the year of our lord,” which is rooted in the Christian faith. You will also see “BCE” and it means Before Common Era, which replaces BC, which means “Before Christ”. The newer terms are more inclusive.

It doesn't fundamentally change the fact that we date things based on Jesus Christ. It doesn't make it inclusive, since its still rooted in Christianity. Papering over it doesn't change that fact. It's just stupid.

Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England

#392

Post by Rickster67 »

ransom1538 wrote: post #76
pwillia7 wrote: post #39

Why wouldn't it just be a 12 sided die for gambling?

They had no wear and tear. A die that expensive would be used every 10 seconds for decades.

Contrary to published work comments, many dod openings DO show signs of chips/dents, scrapes and cuts (especially some of the larger opposing openings and the largest opposing openings – damage is not just from oxidation). This damage is due to the weapon heads being removed, and in some cases from using as a jig (see Corbridge dod), or ‘can-opener’ pry bar when ‘in-service’ weapon heads are broken-off at the head and wood needs to be removed in anticipation of a new shaft being inserted.

It's the original 'Swiss Army' multi-tool created by Gallic blacksmiths (ordered by Negotiatores/Roman arms merchants in conjunction w/ Roman Auxiliary troop arms officers) for measurement/procurement/maintenance of Auxiliary troop, polearm weapon shafts.

https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-use-of-the-Roman-dodecahe...

Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England

#393

Post by Rickster67 »

leptons wrote: post #226
boffinAudio wrote: post #15

I thought these were thought to be looms for knitting finger sections for woollen gloves? I seem to recall someone testing this theory and actually producing very well-fitting gloves - and each of the holes in the design are a different size, to support the different finger-sizes of the customer.

That's about as valid a guess as any other of the hundreds of guesses in this thread, which are probably not valid at all. There's no reason such a complex and expensive to make object would be used for knitting when a simple thing carved out of wood would do the same.

*Knitting tool- interesting, but some dods are too small for this; also some holes are too small; finally, that type of 'French' knitting tube size is based on number of knobs(pins), not the opening/hole sizes.

It's the original 'Swiss Army' multi-tool created by Gallic blacksmiths (ordered by Negotiatores/Roman arms merchants in conjunction w/ Roman Auxiliary troop arms officers) for measurement/procurement/maintenance of Auxiliary troop, polearm weapon shafts.

https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-use-of-the-Roman-dodecahe...

Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England

#394

Post by Rickster67 »

taneq wrote: post #5

One theory (albeit contested) is that they were used as a jig to knit gloves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76AvV601yJ0

Some dods are too small for this; also some holes are too small; finally, that type of 'French' knitting tube size is based on number of knobs(pins), not the opening/hole sizes.

It's the original 'Swiss Army' multi-tool created by Gallic blacksmiths (ordered by Negotiatores/Roman arms merchants for trade w/ Roman Auxiliary troop arms officers) for measurement/procurement/maintenance of Auxiliary troop, polearm weapon shafts.

https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-use-of-the-Roman-dodecahe...

Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England

#395

Post by Rickster67 »

coding123 wrote: post #131

Just because it's not a standard size does not mean it's not a measuring device. Angles, Pythagorean helper tool, construction of archways... We have so many modern tools that come in lots of sizes.

The Roman-Gallo dodecahedron was created for the Roman troop arms merchants (Negotiatores) & Auxiliary troop arms officers. It was used to measure, procure & maintain the Roman Auxiliary troop polearm weapon shafts; to ensure standardized specs for the varying Auxiliary troops (they were allowed to use their own weapons which varied by troop origin). This would include the diameter - mid shaft, the taper of the shaft just outside/away from the joint at the weapon head socket & the taper of the wood shaft, just inside the head socket. Seach Quora under my name (Richard Allday) for more info.

https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-use-of-the-Roman-dodecahe...

Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England

#396

Post by Rickster67 »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #59

Another armchair idea, could they have been used to detect coin clipping? It seems so easy to test that I feel the idea must have some readily apparent flaw.

*It appears that it could be used to measure coins, but old Roman coins in that time period were not very round. They were hammered on a die, not cast, so they weren’t a perfect circle. Weight and material constitution was more important to the value of an ancient coin, not a perfectly round shape (especially since the coins were debased of their silver so much during the 3rd century). In addition, some dods had triangular and oval holes.

The Roman-Gallo dodecahedron was created for the Roman troop arms merchants (Negotiatores) & Auxiliary troop arms officers. It was used to measure, procure & maintain the Roman Auxiliary troop polearm weapon shafts; to ensure standardized specs for the varying Auxiliary troops (they were allowed to use their own weapons which varied by troop origin). This would include the diameter - mid shaft, the taper of the shaft just outside/away from the joint at the weapon head socket & the taper of the wood shaft, just inside the head socket. Seach Quora under my name (Richard Allday) for more info.

https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-use-of-the-Roman-dodecahe...

Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England

#399

Post by Rickster67 »

flir wrote: post #207
imglorp wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Annoyingly, there's no wear. It's not a tool. Also: the size of the tube in French knitting isn't controlled by the size of the hole, it's controlled by the spacing of the pegs. You have to pass the wool over the pegs, so logically the pegs should be cylindrical not round. Earliest evidence for French knitting is 1535. There's no evidence for knitting of any kind until centuries after these things. I'm going with pre…

[flagged]

Re: Another Roman dodecahedron has been unearthed in England

#400

Post by Rickster67 »

stevenwoo wrote: post #261
atoav wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? If it was a common item, it would be natural that there a deluxe versions for e.g. the royal household. The cheap and simple versions would have rotted away by now.

The article mentions that none of them exhibit wear marks that are characteristic of tools.

[flagged]
Post reply on HN