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Roman dodecahedron: 12-sided object has baffled archaeologists for centuries

There are more than 50 theories for the function of this 12-sided, pentagonal-faced bronze object — but archaeologists have never quite figured it out.

You may like Because these dodecahedrons have been found in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland — but not in Italy — Guggenberger views them as "Gallo-Roman products" with a possible origin in the Celtic tribes of the Roman Empire. But many researchers have attempted to solve the puzzle, suggesting that dodecahedrons may have been used as weapons, decorations, candlestick holders, range finders, measurement devices, children's toys, dice, craftsman's samples or spools for knitting gloves. Discovered in a woman's grave in Germany in 1966, the Gellep dodecahedron was located directly next to a rod-shaped bone artifact, suggesting it may have been a staff for mounting the mysterious object to create a symbolic scepter.

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