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A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment
Always love seeing these come up and everyone confidently stating that it's been solved. Everything from a knitting tool (highly unlikely as the Romans didn't knit) to a dice. The truth is we just don't know and likely never will unless a new source .
Personally I'm convinced by the theory that they're probably a metalworkers portfolio piece used to demonstrate the creators skill, either to potential customers or as a test to join a guild.
That's a Prime Resonator from Path of Exile
Looks like a githyanki artifact used to protect from illithid.
BG3 spoiler
There's definitely nobody trapped in there, it's all completely fine with no ethical considerations whatsoever.
Panic Pete
Spaghetti portion measurer.
This is SCP-184.
But you probably don’t have access to that file.
This isn't even a joke, I have an O5 ID card in my wallet. Fun little thing to pull out in moments like this lol
This is amazing. I love it.
God this thing has gotten so beaten up lately. Clearly not the best quality lol that or I'm the longest serving O5.
This is the kind of insanity I wish more upon the world ❤️
There was a dude at a store a few months back who was wearing a hoodie with the Foundation logo on it. After making the purchase when putting the card away I saw the ID and pulled it out. Said "Keep up the good work and we'll see about those incentives." I've never seen a person look both confused and ecstatic at the same time before lol
Haha, they don't know how to use the three dodecahedron's.
My ancient roman friend says it's a candle holder for different sized candles
What if it's a die for an ancient version of D&D? Labyrinths & Minotaurs. Or that thing you put treats in and then your dog rolls it around and gets a biccy every so often.
Cave canem
Romanes eunt domus!
I just assume it's a random doodad. Like a desk decoration or something. Why wouldn't ancient people have had dumb bullshit that served no purpose other than it's aesthetic value just like we do now?
... Art?
It could also have been used for a game
It's a Roman plumbus.
Everyone Roman has one
This is why there was no need to write about it.
I always wondered how they made those
with lead probably
They've actually all been planted by time travelers just to fuck with people.
This is why I couldn't have a time machine. I'd go back in time and fuck with people. Leave a modern day Bic pen deep in a cave in New Zealand, or a randomly shaped object with no clear use made from something like titanium in a forest in the middle of Brazil.
Archeologists after looking at literally anything: Looks like a calendar. Or maybe a religious object. Or maybe a calendar of religions significance.
Seems pretty convincing and matches gold bracelets made in the era.
This is, by far, the most compelling theory I've seen.
Given that those things were so common, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the other uses people have theorized could have happened too.
Knitting
Knitting is a medieval development that originated around Egypt in probably 1000-1100 CE (AD). There is no evidence of two needle knitting before then.
Romans used sprang, weaving and needlebinding techniques. They did not knit. Some needlebound artifacts can resemble knitting - particularly those in the Coptic stitch. They are still produced using the thumb and needle method of needlebinding and are structurally different.
The type of knitting that YouTube grandma did on the dodecahedron - spool knitting/French knitting - is an even later development - early modern period - 1400-1500s.
As a spool knitter, the dodecahedron makes very little sense. The spacing of the pegs - not the spacing of the holes - is what determines the size of the created tube. Every face of the dodecahedron would create the same size tube - which means you’ve just got extra random pointless shit digging into your hands. Google and compare to a modern spool knitter.
The idea of making a doohickey for fingered gloves, which you would then need to sew on anyway (every knitters least favorite thing to do) - it’s silly.
Here are some 4th/5th century socks - produced via needlebinding.
Here is the earliest known example of true knitting. 1000 at earliest.
You mentioned that not all socks would survive - that is true, but often textile patterns can be recovered through indentions in other material.
People say this every time, and it’s still not true, because the Romans didn’t knit. Knitting is a technology and it hadn’t made it to Rome at the time these were made.
Also, some were solid and unsuitable for knitting. And they were found with giant piles of money, which is a weird place to keep your domestic tools.
