Bronze 'Roman Dodecahedron' Discovered In Lincoln
This bronze 'Roman dodecahedron' was unearthed in 2023 during an amateur dig in a farmer's field near Lincoln.
Amateur archaeologists unearthed the stunning Roman dodecahedron — a mysterious class of objects that has baffled experts for centuries.
The dodecahedron is a 12-sided metal shell about the size of a grapefruit.
The dodecahedron was recently shown on the BBC’s “Digging for Britain” and is now on display in the nearby National Civil War Centre: Newark Museum.
The Norton Disney group will return to the excavation site this year (2024) to find out more about the circumstances surrounding this dodecahedron.
It was found this past summer during a dig in a farmer's field near the Lincolnshire village of Norton Disney, located about 35 miles southeast of Sheffield.
Richard Parker, the secretary of the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group, said they dug up the object, which is the size of a grapefruit, about 35 miles southeast of Sheffield in one of the trenches the group made at the site for the two-week dig.
“It was our second-to-last day of the excavation, and up pops this dodecahedron in Trench Four,” Mr Parker told Live Science.
“We were completely surprised by it. We weren’t getting many metal [signals] at that point, but all of a sudden there it was.”
Mr Parker said the group found the object in a field where metal detectorists had already found Roman coins and broaches.
A previous geophysical survey had also revealed what looked like a buried pit at the site.
They believe the object was found where it was deliberately placed some 1700 years before with Roman pottery in a quarry pit.
Roman dodecahedra date from the 2nd to 4th centuries AD, and their purpose remains unknown.
They rarely show signs of wear, and do not have any inscribed numbers or letters.
The first dodecahedron was found in 1739, since then, at least 116 similar objects have been discovered across Europe.
According to Wikepieda, similar objects have been found in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Britain.
What was its use?
No mention of dodecahedrons has been found in contemporary accounts or pictures of the time.
Speculative uses include as a survey instrument for estimating distances to (or sizes of) distant objects, though this is questioned as there are no markings to indicate that they would be a mathematical instrument.
Another theory is that they were ‘spool knitting’ devices for making gloves (though the earliest known reference to spool knitting is from 1535, and this would not explain the use of bronze or the apparently similar icosahedron which is missing the holes necessary for spool knitting.
Another theory is that it’s part of a child's toy; or for decorative purposes.
Several dodecahedra were found in coin hoards, providing evidence that their owners either considered them valuable objects, or believed their only use was connected with coins.
It has been suggested that they might have been religious artifacts, or even fortune-telling devices.
This latter speculation is based on the fact that most of the examples have been found in Gallo-Roman sites.
Some 19th-century antiquarians speculated that they might be weapons, such as the head of a mace or a metal bullet, but other scholars have suggested that the dodecahedra are too light to make an effective weapon.
Reacting to the find on social media, someone said: “Oh my goodness, if you found it you'd have thought it was only from a few decades ago. Amazing!”
Another person said: “I reckon it was a game …… probably had a ball inside & was thrown.
”One hole looks bigger than the others & when it landed if the ball came out you’ve won. Just an idea!”
Someone else had another theory: “I'm leaning towards a multi size candle stick holder.
”It was made by a single manufacturer for a perceived need that proved useful for the purpose but not enough to be widely copied and thus escaped being noticed in the historic record.”
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
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