Roman Objects with an Unknown Use

A Roman dodecahedron—a small metal object with twelve flat sides—sits in a museum. It has round holes of different sizes and small round parts at its corners. It was carefully made, but no one knows what it was for.

People have found these objects in parts of Europe once under Roman rule. They have an empty space inside and come in different sizes. No old writing clearly explains their use.

One idea is that people used them to find out how far away something was. They could look through two opposite holes. This might work if they knew how big the thing was. But the objects have no clear marks for measuring. Their different sizes also make this idea hard to check.

Another idea is that people used them to make things from thread—a long, thin piece of cotton or wool. People today have done this using the small round parts. But this does not show that Romans used them in the same way. Old cloth or a picture showing someone using one could help.

The problem is not too few ideas. It is too little information to know which is right. Showing that something can work is not the same as showing what people really used it for.