A curious Roman artifact unearthed in the English county of Lincolnshire has historians and archaeologists upset. It’s about a “Galo-Roman dodecahedron”just like Its discoverers describe it, “one of the great enigmas of archaeology.” In addition to this object, there are approximately 130 known examples throughout the Roman Empire. What makes this particular dodecahedron special is its good state of preservation, “an example of very fine craftsmanship, with high-level finishes.” What was its use? That’s the big question they’re trying to answer.
The dodecahedron was found by archeology fans during an excavation carried out in Norton Disney, the town where Walt Disney’s ancestors come from. Given the mystery that this object has raised, the historian and BBC presenter Jonathan Foyle has shared and given his opinion on some of the most disparate – and crazy – theories that users have contributed on the British chain’s website: from a dice game, a puzzle, a spaghetti measurer or even a dog treat dispenser.
Given suggestions that it could be a game of dice, Foyle dismisses them by noting that “there are other sizes of dodecahedron that might be more portable if the (Roman) Army were on the move.” Furthermore, the fact that they show no signs of wear would ruin any hypothesis about a board game.
Others have clearly seen in the artifact a spaghetti measurerto which Foyle responded that the Roman conquest of Britain “would have been much simpler” by serving “bowls of carbonara”, something that did not happen, as pasta did not become a staple food in Italy until long after the the fall of the Roman empire.
Alice Roberts, presenter of the BBC documentary series Digging for Britainhas described this Roman dodecahedron as “one of the archaeological objects bigger and more mysterious that I have had the opportunity to observe closely.
For Roberts, “the overwhelming variety of audience responses shows how these ancient riddles can capture the imagination of the public.”
Faced with a flurry of speculation, Foyle revealed his own guess: “I think it’s a device to frame the zodiac constellations“he confessed. “If you look through them, you can frame a view, much like a camera operator,” he added.
The BBC announcer also points out that these mysterious objects were manufactured by “a wonderful culture of metal craftsby a people we call Celts.” In his opinion, these objects “are not found in the Mediterranean, the heart of the Roman Empire, nor in the unconquered Celtic lands.” For this reason, his theory is that “the Romans influenced the natives, who were metal craftsmen.”
Archaeologists agree that dodecahedra like the one found in England “they are not measuring devices” because they don’t have a standard size. They show no signs of wear, “so they are not a tool,” they rule out. “They are not knitting devices either. It required a large amount of time, energy and skill to create our dodecahedron, so it was not used for mundane purposes, especially when there are alternative materials available that would achieve the same purpose,” they reason.
The most plausible hypothesis to date is that the artifact was used “for ritual and religious purposes”. “Roman society was full of superstitions, something that was experienced daily. Our current working theory is a potential link to local religious practice. However, more research is required,” they conclude.
