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submitted 9 months ago by Stamets@lemmy.world to c/memes@lemmy.world

Hella unlikely they were used to knit gloves

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[-] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 103 points 9 months ago

Unlikely why?

Here's a video of it being used for that: https://youtu.be/76AvV601yJ0?si=kvdh4ZLiBCmyldPN

I have seen people argue that "they are pretty intricate and expensive things to use only for the purposes of knitting gloves. ". To them, I would like to submit my wife's $1100 sewing machine that definitely gets used, and isn't just some weird status symbol among creative types.

[-] sanpo@sopuli.xyz 66 points 9 months ago

Just because you could use it for knitting it doesn't mean it was its purpose.
There's not a lot of detail, but you can check on the Wiki why it's ultimately an unlikely explanation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dodecahedron#Purpose

[-] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 27 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Thanks! I really like the idea that it was a test of skill of a blacksmith.

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[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Knitting isn’t attested until almost a millennium after this artifact was created. Nålbinding was practiced during this era in a variety of areas and can look very similar, but is mechanically very diffferent.

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[-] ekZepp@lemmy.world 66 points 9 months ago

Ofk. They just made them to troll future archaeologist

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[-] TootSweet@lemmy.world 36 points 9 months ago

My mother has a fascination with Roman Dodecahedra, so I 3D printed her one for Christmas. She hasn't knitted any gloves with them yet. (And may never, but she still likes it and has it sitting on the mantle over the fireplace.)

[-] thehatfox@lemmy.world 23 points 9 months ago

Printing a Roman dodecahedron seems like an interesting torture test for a 3D printer, plenty of overhangs.

[-] TootSweet@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago

Yeah, the particular model I printed was specifically designed to be easy-ish to print. It's printed in like 32 parts (one for each face and one connector for each vertex) and requires assembly after printing. All to avoid overhangs and such.

But yeah. Raw-dogging it with the supports would be pretty nightmarish. Lol.

[-] rimjob_rainer@discuss.tchncs.de 36 points 9 months ago

Just like my code. It's obvious what it does and doesn't need documentation.. until I try to understand it 2 years later.

[-] Senshi@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago

Lol, try two weeks later 😅

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[-] TheSlad@sh.itjust.works 35 points 9 months ago

Archeologists when we're ancient:

"Wtf is these?"

"I dunno but I bet my mum could knit a glove with it"

[-] platypus_plumba@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

It'll take them a single step on them to understand these were used in wars. That they are no longer used because they were probably banned for human rights violations.

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[-] BabyVi@lemmy.world 19 points 9 months ago

Children's caltrop set.

[-] hungryphrog 11 points 9 months ago

Rule number 1 of archaeology: if you don't know what it is, then it's religious.

[-] TheSlad@sh.itjust.works 8 points 9 months ago

Btw my favorite theory is that they are some kind of dice for a game. The little nubbins on the corners would help them bounce around better.

[-] BottleOfAlkahest@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I always assumed they were for a game. Why have a different face on most of the sides if they werent some sort of dice like game piece?

Honestly though I'm glad archeologists went with "mittens" rather than their old standby "human sacrificing sex cult worship".

Edit: fuck spelling is hard

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[-] pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 34 points 9 months ago

I like how archeologists never come to the conclusion that something could just be an art trend.

Everything has to have a useful purpose even though we all own stuff with no actual purpose.

[-] Barbarian@sh.itjust.works 35 points 9 months ago

The default bucket that archeologists throw stuff into if they really don't know is "religious object".

[-] PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world 21 points 9 months ago

Oftentimes, that’s a sort of inside joke. If it’s even remotely probe-shaped, they assume it was used for sex. But since that doesn’t look nice on academic papers, they’ll use “ritual” as a euphemism.

Seriously, archeologists find a lot of ancient dildos.

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[-] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml 10 points 9 months ago

The wiki on this specific object briefly mentions it may have been for decoration

[-] tdawg@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago

How dare you assert my wall of funkopops has no purpose!

[-] Laticauda@lemmy.ca 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

They do come to that conclusion all the time, but in some cases it's impossible to know for sure. If they don't know for sure then they're not going to say it's definitely for decoration only, but they'll list it as an option, which they have done for this object.

[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 34 points 9 months ago

Every Roman has a plumbus in their home. It's clearly a Latin word.

[-] Cratermaker@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 9 months ago

E plumbus unum

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[-] Selmafudd@lemmy.world 32 points 9 months ago

That's a prime chaotic resonator, It's to apply fossils to your gear..

[-] RQG@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

By the shining golden arse of innocence, I got that reference.

[-] TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee 30 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

It's a rope junction, with the different holes for different knots and rope bundles, with the spokes serving as rope bend/end points. Presumably it would get weeded out as the places where it was employed either stopped making use of them, like perhaps the weather fabric roof shielding of the coliseum, or ended up using more specialized means, like for sailing.

[-] Wogi@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

These things are generally found with coins. They would have been shockingly expensive to use as a rope junction when there are other, cheaper ways to do that. They would have been difficult to produce, especially in any great quantity, hell it would be hard today. There's also at least one icosahedron floating around somewhere that's very similar but with fewer openings

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[-] GarrulousBrevity@lemmy.world 26 points 9 months ago

You don't know what to do with the three seashells?

[-] kenoh@lemm.ee 26 points 9 months ago

Until I looked at the comments here I thought this was the little box thingy that Shadowheart had in BG3.

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[-] ComradePorkRoll@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago

I like the idea that it was a blacksmith "benchy." Archeologists might do the same with the one 3D printing hobbyists make.

[-] IHasAHat@startrek.website 15 points 9 months ago

Archeologists in the future: WHY THE FUCK ARE THERE SO MANY LITTLE BOATS?!

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[-] RIP_Cheems@lemmy.world 25 points 9 months ago

Alright, hear me out...lamp.

[-] AeonFelis@lemmy.world 20 points 9 months ago
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[-] Resol@lemmy.world 22 points 9 months ago

What else would it be? It's obviously a Katamari Damacy.

[-] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 21 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I love how, in this very thread, there are 3-4 pretty confident (and completely different) answers stating, without much doubt, its obvious purpose.

[-] thehatfox@lemmy.world 19 points 9 months ago

My theory is that they had no practical purpose, they were just a trendy knickknack that eventually fell out of fashion. A Roman equivalent of a fidget spinner or something.

In a few thousand years whatever has become of humanity will be digging up fidget spinners and wondering about them in the same way we do with dodecahedrons. It's not as if anyone will have been preserving fidget spinner media for millennia to explain them.

[-] MrsDoyle@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago

I'm thinking coin sorter. You start by sorting the smallest coins through the littlest holes, and work your way up.

I'm a knitter, and making gloves with it just doesn't compute for me. It's too clumsy, with too many extra steps. They'd be making gloves from fabric or leather.

[-] NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 8 points 9 months ago

I like this idea because it fits with finding them in coin hoards and it seems practical - a simpler way for a merchant to check the value of coins without a scale and set of precision weights.

But this one presents a problem:

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[-] Asafum@feddit.nl 15 points 9 months ago

YouTube: ALIeNs ToLd RoMaNs AbOuT ViRuSeS!!

[-] elbucho@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago

It's a cat toy. They didn't have laser pointers back then.

[-] ArmokGoB@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 9 months ago

I think you can bring it to Master Rahool for a piece of exotic gear.

[-] excitingburp@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

Looks like my dick would fit. It's a urinal.

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[-] Hazrod@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

The thingamabob needs no description

[-] Thcdenton@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

That's SCP-184 and you don't wanna know what it does.

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[-] Sanctus@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Has anyone ever tried gathering them all in one place?

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[-] EdibleFriend@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

does....does it go in your butt?

[-] ForestOrca@kbin.social 10 points 9 months ago

No, only things that have a flange.

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[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 9 months ago

i saw someone suggest it was for hanging torches and i desperately want to know what the fuck the inside of their mind looks like, and what they think a torch is

[-] milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee 8 points 9 months ago

EDC torches with long-lasting paraffin and burnished-bronze keychain now on sale at Amazonicus. Buy now and get a credit-card-sized folding pitchfork half price, to always have in your pocket for those unexpected occasions.

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this post was submitted on 15 Jan 2024
955 points (100.0% liked)

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