They have 12 sides, filled with different-sized holes, with nubs on the corners. Dozens have been found, and they’re remarkably consistent. But nobody knows what they were for, and there’s no references to them in any art or literature. There’s no shortage of theories, and we’ll examine them today.
TRANSCRIPT:
If you’ve ever bought a really old home, you might find some things that don’t make any sense.
Like these little nooks often found in kitchens or hallways that are too small to be a bookcase or to set anything down on, but these are phone nooks. Back in the day when there was only one phone in the house and it was tethered to the wall, they made a dedicated space for making phone calls. With a pad and pen to take notes, the yellow pages and the white pages, maybe a rolodex, or a planner, usually with important numbers taped next to the phone on the wall.
People my age and older grew up with these things, they were functional, they made perfect sense… at the time.
Today they just look weird and out of place.
Or if you go back further, your house might have an ice door.
In the days before refrigerators, people kept their food cold in iceboxes, which were literal boxes that held ice. And that ice had to be delivered to the house by a local ice company, which was a huge business at the time.
And yeah a lot of houses had a small ice door where the ice delivery guy could drop the ice into the icebox without disturbing the home.
You’d find milk doors and coal doors for the same reason.
Today of course they just look like random tiny doors that make no sense. But they made perfect sense back then and everybody knew what they were.
It kinda makes me think of the third condiment mystery. Have you heard about the third condiment?
Apparently back in the Victorian days and a little before that, table settings often had three condiment shakers. Like today you always see salt and pepper, they had salt and pepper… and something else.
And nobody knows exactly what that was used for.
Like it wasn’t that long ago, but we haven’t been able to find any writings that explain what it is, it’s never referenced in any books or manuals on homemaking or party planning, it seems that it was so ubiquitous, that nobody ever wrote about it. They all just knew what it was.
And because it was such a mundane, everybody knows this kind of thing, we now have no idea what it was.
For the record a lot of people think it was a kind of mustard powder. But there are debates.
The point is, a funny thing that happens with history is that the most mundane, ubiquitous parts of daily life are the things we’ve lost the most – because nobody wrote about them in their time. Everybody just knew what it was.
And that’s possibly the case with the subject of today’s video. Because we’re going to go waaay back. Today we’re going to talk about the Roman Dodecahedron.
Yes, finally, after all this time on YouTube, so many requests for this topic, I don’t know how I’ve never covered it before but alas, the time has come…
Let’s talk about this thing.
This was made by my producer Damian
- He 3D printed it
- Painted it
- Might be a new accoutremont
But this one is special, you can’t have it. If you want one…
But this is it, this is the Roman Dodecahedron. It has twelve sides, there are holes on each side, each of them different sizes. Nubs in all the corners.
There were something like 130 or so of these that have been found, usually cast in bronze or copper. And yeah, nobody knows what they were used for.
Actually, at this point everybody has a different opinion on what these things are for, but the reason there’s so much disagreement about it is that there is nothing in any written record or any art, nothing about this object has ever been mentioned in the literature and art of the time. So we’re left to speculate.
Dodecahedrons Through the Ages
The most recent dodecahedron find was in June of 2023 in the Lincolnshire town of Norton Disney. Which is apparently where Walt Disney’s family comes from. And this one was especially big, it was grapefruit sized.
The smallest dodecahedrons are only an inch and a half in diameter. But most are like this (hold it up) 3-4 inches in size, but there is no uniform size to these things, they’re all over the place.
The first documented finding of one of these was in 1739, in Aston, Hertfordshire, England. And since then 133 have been found, and with the exception of a few outliers, all of them from areas in Northern Europe like France, Germany, and Britain.
This is an area that the Romans called Gaul. And they date to the years when the Romans were there, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Centuries.
So yeah many make the argument that they really shouldn’t be called Roman Dodecahedrons at all, they should be called Gallic Dodecahedrons. Because it seemed to be exclusively a Gallic object. The Roman Dodecahedron never got anywhere close to Rome.
But to put the time period when these things existed into context, this was actually pretty high times for Rome.
The Empire reached at its greatest extent in 117 under Trajan and went through its famous conversion to a Christian state under Constantine in the three hundreds.
So even if it was a regional phenomenon, that region was firmly under Roman control.
But the fact that they only have been found in the Northern parts of Europe is kind-of a mystery… but it’s also a clue.
Maybe it was part of a cultural tradition that only existed in those areas. Maybe it has a purpose that only makes sense in a colder climate.
But that’s just one clue. There are many clues to talk about. Even the fact that they didn’t write about or paint them is a clue. Lack of information is a clue. Like why didn’t they ever talk about these things?
They’re not mentioned by ancient historians or playwrights. They’re not even shown in art, and the Romans weren’t shy about what they put in art!
And before you say, yeah, but the most famous art came from near Rome, there are plenty of ancient art objects from Gaul. And that art is dodecahedron-free.
Let’s consider some other clues…
Why Don’t We Know More?
One interesting clue is that they’re often found in graves or tombs of wealthy women, often alongside coins.
Buut, they’ve also been found in military camps along ancient riverbeds.
They don’t usually have any markings, which it would be a great clue if they did, but them not having markings can rule out some theories.
Most of them show little if any wear.
And they are usually made out of fairly expensive metals like brass or copper. At least, the ones that survived were.
Rangefinder
One popular theory is that it was a kind of range finder for the Roman military, to help them aim for distant targets. Which makes sense because they were found in military camps.
So like imagine you’re a Roman general facing off against a horde of milk-skinned Gallic barbarians. You tell your archers to nock arrows and lift your 12-sided rangefinder to your eye . You point it at a target on the enemy’s side.
Sounds interesting but like… how?
Apparently it can be done. There’s a paper by
Amelia Carolina Sparavigna from the Torino Politechnic school, and she figured out that by lining up various holes, you an gauge the distance by applying this simple formula:
It’s super easy!
So there you go. Mystery solved. The holes show the range, the knobs are for holding.
Except… Is that the best solution in the heat of battle? You got the enemy baring down on you so you whip out your abacus and do a little algebra? Weren’t there simpler ways of doing that?
The knob thing – I mean I guess they make it easier to hold but it feels a little unnecessary.
Also the lack of labelling bothers me. If you’re trying to use it for something precise, it feels like it would be labeled more precisely, also the size across all of them would be more uniform.
I also imagine they would be more uniform throughout the empire if that was a useful military tool, and they weren’t.
Also, it might explain why they were found in military encampments but what about being buried with high-status women? Why would they be buried with a rangefinder?
So I don’t think it’s a rangefinder. In fact, I lean against any of the “measuring device” theories simply because they were all so differently sized. But there are many measuring device theories.
This next one is actually pretty interesting. Might be my favorite actually.
An Etsy shop owner named Amy Gaines, who makes adorable knit stuffed animals, came across the dodecahedron mystery and she seemed to know right away what she was looking at.
According to her knitting-enhanced eyeballs, the dodecahedron is the perfect device for making a specific type of gold chain. Just so happens it’s a technique known as Viking Knitting.
And this was in northern Europe… Go on…
In her video, Amy uses a tapered dowel to fit through the holes of the dodecahedron, then uses aluminum wire, which would probably have been gold in real life, and wraps it around and through the knobs on the device. And by repeating that looping down the dowel, you can create a loose metal chain.
Then, you can actually use the progressively smaller holes to pull the wire through and stretch it and make it a tighter weave. She compares this to modern day draw plates.
And as she shows in her video, it does work. And it works with yarn, too, so you can use it to weave cords and maybe fingers for gloves.
This… is an interesting theory. It fits the need for the different sized holes, it explains the nubs, it makes sense regionally with the viking weave, it explains why it was normally made of bronze and copper, both harder metals than gold, it explains why they were buried with women, and maybe… maybe military guys used then to make chain mail?
This checks so many boxes. The only thing I question is the fact that they didn’t often show signs of wear and tear, which I feel like this would have a lot of. Unless it was used with yarn maybe.
Although apparently a lot of the dodecahedrons were found with wax residue on them, and she suggests that was used as a kind of lubrication.
But yeah, this is a very solid theory.
Coder-Decoder
Another theory is that it’s a device to encode messages.
A coder/decoder, if you will.
I can see it. I mean just looking at it, it kinda looks like a cypher of some kind. The different holes being different settings or something.
Well that’s the exact idea that a guy named Matt Geevan had, and he came up with something that like… I have no idea if this is right or not, but it’s kinda brilliant.
In a video he uploaded to YouTube, he shows how these different holes could be keys to different circular cyphers, that lock into place with the corner knobs. You line up the inner cypher with the outer cypher to find the code letter, and you rotate the inner cypher one click after every word.
Once you’ve got your message, you can seal it with wax inside this message holder, and then imprint the side of the dodecahedron that matches the right key.
Then the guy who gets the message knows which circle to use by matching up his dodecahedron to the wax seal.
Then he pops in the correct cypher and now he’s decoding the message.
This explains why it was found in military camps.
This explains why nobody ever talked about it, because it was secret military technology.
This explains the wax residue.
Maybe even why it was made from valuable metals? Because military?
This checks a lot of boxes… But not all of them
Doesn’t explain the burials with rich women.
And it doesn’t account for the fact that they were all different sizes. If this was something implemented widely across the Gallic-Roman military, that size would have to be standardized.
Though technically for it to work only two of the dodecahedrons have to match, so that might bring down this objection just a little bit.
As for why it it was only used in the north and not all throughout Rome, I mean I guess it’s possible it was just something instituted by a Gallic-Roman general and it spread around those areas and just never quite caught on outside of there. Because it was too complicated or unnecessary.
But maybe the biggest one is that this would require some other pieces to work, and none of that’s ever been found.
Now he makes the point that those other pieces would probably have been made from wood and parchment so they can be easily destroyed in order to keep them out of enemy hands. And those materials would have decomposed long ago. Or been destroyed for security reasons.
So some might say the lack of evidence is even more proof that it must have been a secret thing, but… having evidence would be better.
So, I find this interesting. I don’t think it’s the answer, I think this is a bit of reverse engineering but I will say I think it’s a brilliant bit of reverse engineering and if I ever do some kind of medieval fantasy novel that involves a military campaign I am totally stealing that. Very clever work, sir, and I applaud you.
Anyway, debate this one down below.
So those are some of my favorite ones, I find them the most interesting, there’s a whole lot more of them I can just go through rapid-fire here:
Some think it’s a gauge for measuring things, because of the different size holes, you can shape spears or tools with it or maybe measure the size of wood for tinder or even amounts of spaghetti.
I think any one of those things might work but all of them?
Did they need a device to measure tinder?
Did they even eat pasta in that part of the world? Was spaghetti even a thing back then?
Also do you know a lot of women who were buried with their pasta measurers?
Another theory is that it might be a candle holder
Which, I mean… I guess?
Like it would definitely work. And it’s a pretty stable platform so really any cylindrical object could be placed in it, and maybe the different sized holes gives you the option to use any kind of candle… So I mean it kinda works.
But wouldn’t we see a whole lot more of them? Didn’t they already have a much simpler solution for that? And do you know any women who have been buried with candle holders?
Because they were sometimes found with coins, some people think that they could have been coin validators.
Back then it was a lot easier to counterfeit coins, and it was fairly common for people to clip off little bits of coin and melt it down and sell it. So this was a device for merchants and tax collectors to essentially authenticate the coins by making sure they fit the appropriate hole.
This is a pretty good one, but it’s got a fatal flaw, as my friend Stefan Milo pointed out in a recent video.
He actually just did a few videos on the dodecahedron recently, they’re awesome you should go check it out, in fact if you’re not following Stefan Milo, like… what are you even doing?
He makes the point that when people clipped silver out of the coins, it was more like a chip that wouldn’t affect its shape, so the hole wouldn’t help, plus it would have to be standard sized holes across all the dodecahedrons, which they aren’t. So…
Another one I’ve seen a lot is that it’s a demonstration of a metalworker’s skill. It’s a metalworker flex, basically.
Mostly just because it’s such a complicated piece to make and would have required a lot of skill, it might be a kind of calling card for trades people to prove their worth.
That one feels like a stretch… I feel like if that was the case then it would be the metalworkers would be carrying them around to show off their ability. And therefore we’d be finding them more around old trade centers and buried with tradesmen and merchants. But instead we got military camps. And do you know any women who were buried with metalworker art?
Some have suggested it’s just a bauble, like all the random things we keep around our desks just to play with. Just something to feel in your hand, which, I’ve gotta say, I’ve had this replica sitting here for a while… (play with it)
It’s not bad!
A Roman fidget spinner, I’ve heard it called.
Or something more distracting like a game, maybe even something related to gambling.
But baubles are cheap little doo-dads and these were valuable. And do you know a lot of women who are buried with a game on them?
I know I keep coming back to that, but think about the kinds of things we bury people with. Deeply personal things, things that were a big part of that person’s identity. And a lot of these just don’t rise to that.
But that’s also why a lot of people think it must have some kind of religious significance. I know that’s kind-of a cliche with archeology, anything we don’t understand must have some deep spiritual significance, we tend to ascribe everything to that.
It may have symbolized a deity or offered protection to the person who carried it like a rosary or a crucifix today.
Of course that feels like something that would have been talked about or written about somewhere
My best guess: it’s a symbol of status or authority or membership in an elite group or family
I kind-of like the idea that it was just a trend.
Just a valuable thing that everybody decided was valuable because for a hot minute there they all wanted it. And people spent obscene amounts of money on it, even though it served no useful purpose whatsoever.
The only thing is it’s kinda hard to find another example of that happening. I mean, outside of
- Stanley Cups
- Fidget spinners
- Hoverboards
- Razor Scooters
- Beanie Babies,
- Tamogochi
- Furbies
- Tickle Me Elmo
- Pogs
- Rubik’s Cube
- Pet Rocks
- Mood Rings
- Hula Hoops
- Slinkys
- Bird Hats (Victorian)
- Pineapples (early 1800)
- and the Dutch Tulip Craze
It seems to be a thing we do. So why wouldn’t they?
Before you say, “would you get buried with a beanie baby” I would say yes, I think a LOT of beanie babies got buried at the height of the craze. Because at that time they held personal significance to that person.
So my best guess, honestly, is it’s a status symbol. Like literally a symbol of status.
It was something that people of a privileged class of society, an elite group or family, something they could carry around and show to get special treatment or access. This was like a social passcode to get what you want.
This explains why it was found with coins, why it was found with wealthy women, and I think it works with military encampments – to separate the officers and elites from lower status people.
It explains why it’s made out of valuable metals, and if it really was a family or local elites thing, then it might have been limited to just one part of the Roman empire, hence the regionalization.
I think this works pretty well. It’s not perfect but it’s pretty good
But Joe, What about the Icosahedron?
Ah yes, there was one object that was different from all the others, they call it the icosahedron because it has 20 sides instead of 12, and it has holes in it but the holes are small and highly decorated.
Other videos from YouTubers I admire place a lot of stock in the icosahedron, they treat it like it’s an important clue, they suggest that any theory has to account for the icosahedron. I think I disagree with this.
Unlike the dodecahedron, which they’ve found hundreds of, there is only one of the icosahedrons ever found. I had to double and triple check this but yeah, it was found near Arloff in Germany and it currently resides at the Rheinisches (Rine-es-ish) Landesmuseum in Bonn, Germany.
I am happy to chalk this up to just someone’s artwork. Art was a thing back then, and metalworkers were creative people, I can easily accept that one of them just had a crazy idea and made it.
We spend so much time trying to apply deep significance to historical finds, I think it’s good to remember, we’re humans. Sometimes we do things just to do them.
Whatever the dodecahedron was, there was a time and place in history where this thing was totally understood, and the fact that it’s a big mystery to us would be ridiculous to them.
That’s probably what this is, it’s how the Gauls wiped themselves.
You know any ladies that buried themselves with toilet paper?
It kinda makes you wonder what things we use every day that will be weird and mysterious two thousand years from now.
There’s a great book from 1979 called The Motel of the Mysteries that’s about a guy in the year 4022 who discovers a motel and doesn’t know what it is.
So he assigns deep spiritual meaning to everything in the motel room, even calling the toilet seat a sacred collar that was worn by the high priest at funerals.
It’s a delightfully inventive book but it also makes you think about how much context gets lost to time.
Take a minute and think about the things around you and how a person from the future or an alien might perceive it and what it’s for. So much of our world is based on shared understanding. And a lot breaks down when that’s lost.
But anyway, to close this out, you might have theories of your own about this thing – maybe an idea that you could totally put to the test if you had one. Well… You want one?
You’ve seen me playing with this replica throughout this video… we made this ourselves. We could make one for you if you want.
In fact, just put the QR code on screen, this is our next merch drop. A replica Dodecahedron for your desk.
It won’t be all painted and fancy like this, it’ll just be metallic gray, but we’ll also make one with the blue channel color. A special Joedecahedron.
But I’m not just trying to sell you something, I kinda want to do a big experiment?
I want to kinda crowdsource an answer to this mystery.
Get this object into a bunch of your hands and let you guys try to figure out what it was used for.
Spend some time with it, be creative, share your experiments on social and maybe we can come to an answer that hasn’t been thought of before.
Plus you’ll get a cool ancient fidget spinner out of it.
Anyway, that’s something you can do. Good luck cracking the case.
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