Name: Rome’s Dodecahedron
What it is: 12-sided bronze object
Where did it come from: Northwest Roman Empire
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When it was made: Advertisement from the second to fourth century
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What it tells us about the past:
Rome’s Dodecahedron has been baffling archaeologists since 1739, when the first example of 12-sided bronze objects was discovered in the midlands of England in 1739. For nearly three centuries, experts and enthusiasts have come up with dozens of theories as to why people valued these items, but their purpose has never been confirmed.
At least 120 dodecahedrons were discovered throughout the northwest states of the Roman Empire. According to classical archaeologist Michael Guggenberger, who has published several studies on objects, all dates range from the late 2nd century to the late 4th century, with the same general appearance.
In a 2000 study, Guggenberger wrote that the basic shape is a regular or pentagonal pentagonal form. The 12th Pentagon formed a hollow-shaped face and met at 20 corners. Each corner of the Roman advantage is covered with a small sphere, with each pentagonal face having a diameter hole. The Dodecahedron ranges from 1.6 to 3.9 inches (4 to 10 cm) tall, weighs 1 to 20 ounces (30 to 580 grams) and has very thin walls. No writing was found for Dodecahedron.
These dodecahedrons have been found in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, England, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland, but since they are not in Italy, Guggenberger considers them as “Gallo Roman products” that can originate from the Celtic people of the Roman Empire. However, because ancient art does not have historical records or depictions, the origin and purpose of Dodecahedron has been lost.
Archaeologists recovered Dodecahedrons from the tombs of men and women, in the storage of coins, and even from the pile of garbage, so no blanket descriptions were found for use. However, many researchers have tried to solve the puzzle, suggesting that the Dodecahedron could have been used as weapons, decorations, candle pattern holders, range finders, measuring devices, children’s toys, dice, artisan samples, or knitting gloves.
Guggenberger writes that of more than 50 theories, most can be ruled out or considered highly unlikely. His preferred main explanation is symbolic, with connections between the ancient Greek thinker Plato and the philosophy of Pythagoras.
In the symbolism of Platonic Pythagoras, four solid forms were associated with four elements. They are tetrahedron with fire, octahedron with air, icosahedron with water, and hexahedron of Earth. And as the fifth regular solid, “Dodecahedron served as an inclusive symbol of all the universe,” Guggenberger wrote in a 2013 study.
In the second century AD, thinkers like Plutarch revived Dodecahedron’s previous ideas as symbolic connections between heaven and the universe, Guggenberger wrote, which may have influenced the Celts of the Roman Empire.
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However, certain tombs with dodecahedrons may hold important clues to their use, Guggenberger said in a 2000 study. Discovered in the tomb of a German woman in 1966, Gellep Dodecahedron is located right next to a rod-shaped bone artifact, suggesting that he could have been a staff member who mounted mystical objects to create the iconic scepter. And given the Celtic background of the object, this might link it to the druid tradition.
“For the time being, the most likely interpretation of Dodecahedron is as a cosmic and comprehensive symbol,” Guggenberger writes, “a function comparable to an amulet.”
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