More than 100 such ancient artifacts have been found throughout Europe, but nobody knows what they are
  • A Roman dodecahedron, a mysterious 12-sided metal object, was discovered in the village of Norton Disney in England.
  • The artifact is in excellent condition and is larger than many other dodecahedrons that have been found.
  • The purpose of these objects remains unclear, but theories suggest they may have been used for ritualistic or religious purposes.
  • chaogomu@kbin.social
    10·
    9 months ago

    I hate to break it to you, but ritual and religion have been a thing forever.

    Walk into most homes today, and you’ll find a bunch of ritual objects. Crosses, Rosary Beads, Menorahs, and dozens of other every day objects that you’d never think twice about.

    The ancient world had even more such objects.

    A fun example that I can think of off the top of my head is the demon trapping bowl. It was common in parts of the Middle East, and how it worked is you’d write a bunch of incantations on the inside of the bowl in a spiral down to the center, and then bury it upside down under the main entrance to your home.

    That’s clearly a ritual object. It serves no other purpose.

    These dodecahedra might be the same. After all, there are 12 zodiac and playing with the meaning of the zodiac was quite popular in the Roman world at various times.