Revealing the uses of Roman dodecahedron discovered in Belgium

To this day, the exact use of the Roman dodecahedron remains controversial among scientists.

Amateur archaeologist Patrick Schuermans, while walking through a field near the small town of Kortessem (Belgium), discovered a mysterious fragment with his metal detector.

It was then sent to scientists at the Gallo-Roman Museum , Tongeren, Belgium for verification.

A report on the object published by experts on January 26, 2023 revealed that, although only a corner of the artifact remains, it is definitely part of a Roman bronze dodecahedron (twelve solid blocks), measuring just over 5cm in diameter.

Although other geometric artifacts of this type have been discovered in the past, archaeologists have so far been unable to explain their exact function. No written document mentioning it has ever been found.

 A Roman dodecahedron, a replica on display at the Gallo-Roman Museum, Tongeren, Belgium (Photo credit: Time Travel Rome).

Scientists have made many conjectures about the uses of this dodecahedron.

Roman dodecahedron for divination?

The first Roman dodecahedron was identified in England in the 18th century. Since then, over a hundred have been found across the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

They consist of hollow metal shells molded on 12 sides, about the size of a baseball, with large holes on each side and rivets at each corner.

The metal itself cannot be dated, but some of it has been discovered in Earth layers dating from the 1st to 5th centuries AD.

One of the bronze dodecahedrons, discovered just outside the walls of the ancient Roman city of Tongeren in 1939. It is now on display in the Gallo-Roman museum.

"There have been several theories, it could have been a calendar, a land measuring tool, a scepter…, but none of them are satisfactory," Guido Creemers , curator of the Gallo-Roman museum, told LiveScience.

However, the theories put forward by scientists are still numerous surrounding their functions such as they could be part of some kind of weapon, tool used in agriculture, dice and toys,.

 Besides, many experts direct their research on this object more to informal activities such as witchcraft, fortune telling., which were very popular in the Roman era.

Influence of the Gauls and Celts

These mysterious metal artifacts have only been discovered in the northwestern regions of the ancient Roman Empire or at burial sites.

This may be a clue that its practice was limited to areas influenced by the Gauls or Celts.

The Flemish Heritage Agency, Kingdom of Belgium finally revealed in a statement on January 10: "We found traces of some repairs on a part of the dodecahedron. The broken surface of the fragment may indicate that it was broken intentionally, perhaps during a final ritual."

This discovery may shed more light on the researchers, a subsequent archaeological dig at the site where the fragment was found found additional fragments of wall paintings, which may have been a place of ritual or banquet in an ancient Roman villa.