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What a wonderful rabbit hole to go down. My takeaways are it could possibly be used for knitting, but traditional spool knitting that the Grandma uses in the video doesn’t show up in history until the 1500s. If the Romans did use it for gloves then knitting has been around much longer than we have evidence of or they were using a different method with the dodecahedron.
I think I also read these were usually found with treasures and with minimal or no wear, so there isn’t any evidence they were used for anything.
The best suggested explanation IMO is that it’s a way for blacksmiths to demonstrate their skill.
“lol stupid scientists don’t know what knitting is” I would file under “actively anti-intellectual”.
So it’s the ancient Roman blacksmith’s version of Benchy. Got it
Iirc it was only found in northern areas. Can’t see demonstrations of skill being only there.
Maybe the ones elsewhere were too busy being productive.
Except that’s probably not what they’re for, I saw a video recently (I think it was this one) that went into detail about the reasons why it doesn’t make much sense for these to be a knitting tool.
There’s a lesson here about the differences between history and a good historical narrative, but that’s the lesson of most history and no one ever listens to it.
There’s a lesson here about the differences between history and a good historical narrative, but that’s the lesson of most history and no one ever listens to it.
There’s a lesson here about the differences between history and a good historical narrative, but that’s the lesson of most history and no one ever listens to it.
I don’t think there’s a lesson here.
First and foremost: knitting wasn’t invented until centuries later and didn’t appear in Europe until about the 14th century.
I hope this is the next episode of hardcore history. I could use 30 hours of Dan Carlin context on knitting…
Not to yuck your Yum, but I think some people are far too into knitting.
Decoding the Unknown (also by Simon Whistler) did a video on these as well
maybe its for measuring how much pasta you need to boil
There’s no horse on it, silly!
I understood that reference
Tell me please.
I’m missing a reference and it itches my brain.
There was a post a few days ago about a tool to measure pasta and it was like a ruler with the holes in it in the shape of a kid, a man and a horse.
how much pasta you need to knit a toga or some shit
Maybe it is a knitting-pastaing-horsing multitool
Last time one of these threads popped up, I saw someone suggest that it might have been a holder for some of those bottles with pointed bottoms the Romans had, don’t remember the name. I’m not sure if this is a hypothesis with any level of acceptance, but it feels like it could be plausible just from looking at the thing, having different sized holes would allow different sizes of bottle to fit, and you’d want feet for each possible side that it could be resting on, which would explain the prongs.
These devices are rather small and most amphora seem to be much larger. The shape of amphora helped with shipping, so they were typucally larger than a device that can fit in your hand.
those bottles with pointed bottoms the Romans had, don’t remember the name.
I’m not sure if this is a hypothesis with any level of acceptance
Unless an actual record is found describing what they were used for, it’s all just guesses anyway.
Future archeologist: What do you think they used those things for?
My point is, maybe it was just art, fun, deko?
Future archeologists: we believe these were to provide a form of transportation for their miniature gods, as the large humans honored the devices with novel patterns.
Reality:
Spinny boi
My mother got really interested in these things a while ago. I think she mostly buys into the glove-knitting theory. Whatever the case, I 3D printed her a model of one and it’s sitting on the mantle over her fireplace.
Archaeologists in 2000 years will be puzzled again. “Plastic dodecahedra found near broken mantelpieces, what could it be used for? Anyway I made one out of technetium for my grandma”
“It was probably either religious in nature, or used for deciding when to put seeds in the ground”
“Many same-sex friends had these. We believe it was a sign to show they were just roommates”
possibly used to start the primal source of heat called fire
It’s a girth measurer.
Grandma knows how to use it.
By the looks of it, the Romans were size queens and kings. The frescos and mosaics of Pompeii support that theory.
Grandma’s are the best
Grandma is are indeed
Grandma has are the best, surely.
You put fossils in them dude
Dang it, someone thought of it already
Possible Ritual Use™ 😸
Love these, though I’ll never remember the name or how to write it …
Source: it was revealed to me in a dream
I just assumed it was one of these http://www.voting.ukscientists.com/penrose.html
It’s a ghastly that ran out of gas.
It’s just a papyrus weight
