And the latest specimen, found during an amateur excavation in central England, has only further increased the mystery surrounding these strange pieces whose size is no larger than a grapefruit.
The object – composed of an alloy of 75% copper, 7% tin and 18% lead – is one of 33 found in the United Kingdom.
It is one of the largest found so far, and is in an excellent state of preservation (most have been found in pieces).
It is estimated that it was deliberately buried 1,700 years ago along with Roman ceramics from the 4th century, in a kind of hole excavated specifically.
The object was found by a group of amateurs on the second to last day of excavation
And although to date nearly 100 Roman dodecahedra have been found in various countries in Europe, researchers have not been able to unravel their function.
“Despite all the research that has been done on our dodecahedron and others like it, we are no closer to discovering exactly what it is and what it might have been used for,” said Richard Parker, secretary of the Norton Disney History and Archeology Group, which is responsible for of the discovery.
Ritual uses?
Its function is difficult to specify because no descriptions of the dodecahedron have been found in Roman literature, and the object itself does not contain any inscription.
Since they are not all the same size (some have, for example, a proportion similar to that of a golf ball), it was ruled out that it could be an object for taking measurements.
It was also ruled out that it could be a tool of some kind, because they show no signs of wear.
The dodecahedron recently appeared on the BBC television programme, “Digging for Britain”. The photo allows us to appreciate its size.
“A great deal of time, energy and skill went into creating our dodecahedron, so it was not used for mundane purposes, especially when there are alternative materials available that would achieve the same purpose,” the group says on its website.
“We believe the most likely use is for ritual and religious purposes.”
“Roman society was full of superstitions,” the group’s statement continued. “A potential link to local religious practices is our current working theory.”
The group of amateurs plans to return to the site in the British summer to continue searching for more clues that may shed light on the enigmatic dodecahedron.
Although this was found in the summer of last year, the information
