Hired.
Y’all, it’s just a cool thing, and a status symbol.
You’re really going to tell me that a species that has/had things like decorative paper weights, necklaces, rings, statues, fidget spinners, funko pop figures, and little tiny versions of buildings you flew 8 hours to see for sale near the actual building isn’t going to be the same one that in ancient times, was all over a little bronze thing that looks objectively cool once some metal worker figures out how to make one?
It’s like none of you have ever met a human before. It doesn’t have to do anything. That’s the point.
While you may be right, you’re basically yelling at humans to not be curious and problem solve.
Biblically accurate coins.
Made my day ❤️
Mfw
The knitting helper?
You mean the spaghetti portion measurer?
An ancient d12!
These are candle holders for when you want to send light in all directions by using candles of various widths. All knowledge of them evaporated because all the users died in mysterious fires.
Did they ever discover what started the fires?
It wasn’t Billy Joel and his mates, so he says.
They did try to fight it though.
Nice throw back asshole. I was juste chillin on my balcony, now the dolly zoom crew is laying downstair. Gotta warn thé key grip next time.
Those look like objects I would find in Skyrim
A new hand touches the decahedron!
“That is very unlike a coin. You’re terrible at this.”
It appears as an Easter egg in Luthen Rael’s antique shop in Andor.
My preferred theory is that it identifies the bearer as belonging to a group something like a smithies guild.
If there was a practical function someone would have figured it out. It’s a lame candle holder, coin counter, and glove knitting template. It’s function is symbolic.
It was hard to make, and the materials were costly.
It has specific features that can be described like “it has 12 flat faces with holes” but would be difficult to construct if you had never seen one.
They have often been found with caches of coins, but often found alone as though forgotten or discarded. They had value to some people but they were not treasure.
I’m just imagining a thousand years from now some archaeologists is trying to understand the technological purpose of the fidget spinner.
In other words, they were masterpieces in the original meaning of the word. Masterpiece originally meant not just some great or acclaimed work, but something much more specific. It was the work a guild artisan would use to demonstrate their ultimate skill and earn the title of Master. It was the craftsman equivalent of an academic dissertation. For a specific historical example, see columbine cup.
hmmm looks like some sort of religious figurine
hmmm looks like some sort of religious figurine
In 1000 years if they discovered Newton’s Cradles, they’d be similarly baffled on their functional use case. My theory is that it’s just a cool decoration thing
I really like the “you cant actually make one from a description” angle. That actually makes a lot of sense. Like, you couldn’t even make it from memory, you’d have to copy it.
Yep, in a way this has similarities to modern cryptography.
In cryptography you can share a public key, which can’t be used to create the private key but can be used to identify the correct private key.
With this object, you can share a description which can’t be used to make the object, but can be used to identify the object.
Its obviously not infallible security, but it would take some effort to overcome.
Grok said it’s a weapon, so we can eliminate that one.
Yeah, let’s eliminate Grok.
Almost anything is a weapon if you try.
Pocket dodecahedron!
There are far, far more things that cannot be a weapon than can be.
For instance, a single grain of sand.
a single grain of sand.
In space, accelerated to sufficient relative velocity, that’s more than adequate as a weapon.
Iirc that’s actually the premise of how a lot of guns in Mass Effect work. A mass effect field is induced with Element Zero (unobtanium plot device) which allows you to alter the apparent mass of things inside the field and then, using essentially a grain of sand shaved off a block as a projectile, said projectile is accelerated to relativistic speeds in place of a bullet.
I just hate the explanation for adding force fields to create impact force because the unshielded projectiles had no stopping power and would just pass right through a target.
I fully understand the significance of stopping power but if you could change how much of that force is applied you could turn it off and shoot through walls/cover and still kill your target
Also, is it in my pocket?
Sha-sha!
With enough velocity it will still kill you.
Also gather more and heat them up.
“They built copper and iron shields, put sand into them, and heated them over hot fire so the sand became red-hot. By means of some mechanism they threw this sand at those who had fought bravest… The sand penetrated through the armour into the shirts, burned the body, and it could not be helped… they died, going mad with horrible pain, in sufferings piteous and unquenchable.”
It’s the most likely use, IMO. They could be mace heads intended for personal protection. The different holes would be to accommodate different handle diameters, making it easy to swap to another handle if it breaks.
In 1000 years people will find a land fill with fidget spinners and wonder the same.
Or finger traps.
In fact, my hypothesis (it’s mine, you can’t have it) is that the Roman empire fell due to everybody being constantly distressed and distracted because they kept losing their fidget dodecahedrons all over Europe.
So you claim your hypothesis is nonfungible? Watch me funge up your hypothesis!
Or they will immediately start fidgeting with them and inadvertently understand.
Which now leads me to believe these relics are merely copies of earlier relics that were copied from relics even earlier. Created only to be recreated as the echo of human curiosity.
The big bang was god dropping his dodecahedron fidget spinner
It’s probably a rope rigging or for pikes – with the hole.
Roman Dodecahedrons - my favored theory was that they were used to make wool gloves. Indeed, when I looked into it, someone had done this. AFAIK, cool as they are, and as many of them as have been found, no one really knows what purpose they served.
I think it’s pretty obvious they’re for playing Tullianums et Dracones. Probably editio III since it had the most d10 use.
There is no evidence of knitting in the Roman Empire, which if it was there is weird when you consider how much art they made that shows other parts of their daily lives and how many deities they had for every aspect of life.
The solid ones would also be completely useless for knitting gloves. And why are these typically found in hoards of money if they’re a part of domestic life? It just doesn’t fit the available evidence. I don’t think it’s a bad idea, but it doesn’t work to explain all of them.
There is no evidence of knitting in the Roman Empire
Those necklaces were Roman made.
Also really expensive even back then if you ask me.
Those look braided rather than knitted
My bad, call it braiding.
Is this really considered knitting and not metalworking?
Wire knitting?
I don’t think most knitters would be able to do anything with a bunch of wire, and it doesn’t seem like the dodecahedrons have the kind of wear that wire crafting would entail. I also don’t know that crafting wire into a necklace would necessarily translate to skill in knitting gloves, or even mean people would have the idea for it.
Gloves? In southern Italy? What for?
Ask the people who think the dodecahedrons are for knitting, because that’s the only thing they’d be able to knit with it :p
Nah the knitting / weaving idea doesn’t add up.
Basically, they can be used to weave a tube, but that isn’t really evidence that they were created with that intention.
The bronze would be polished up around the knobs if it were used that way.
You wouldn’t use bronze to make a weaving tool just because it’s so expensive. Maybe as a once off or special item, but not generally.
You don’t vary the size of your knitting or weaving by using a bigger template / more loose weave. One larger finger you would use more stitches: that’s fundamental to knitting and weaving.
At first glance it’s a nice idea but it doesn’t withstand critical thought.
These were clearly used for fossil crafting.
I had to Delve too deep for this response
Apperently the holes are important for the knitting, but there are some dodecahedrons without holes.
100 internet points, but I can’t give them. Gloves.
Thank you for the “100 internet points”, I can’t imagine what I’ll use them for, or when. :-D
Hey pal, youre in the wrong part of town. We’ll overlook it just this once… For 100 internet points or ya life.
flicks knife out real cool like
That’s not a knife, this (pulls 168cm Da Dao from behind my left shoulder), this Is a knife.
i love the life this thread took. HAHAHAH
The Roman Plumbus.
