The dodecahedron, a mysterious twelve-sided object from the Roman era found in a Limburg field, is creating quite a stir. Everybody wants to know what it is for, but, to tell the truth, nobody seems to know.
Guido Creemers, the head curator at the Gallo Roman Museum in Tongeren (Limburg) that will exhibit the artefact, believes an explanation needs to be sought in the occult: “The Romans attached great importance to magical practices” says Creemers, “but they were often practised in hiding because officially they were illegal”.
Patrick Schuermans, the amateur archaeologist, who found the object in a field in Kortessem (Limburg) easily identified it as a dodecahedron, even if it isn’t an everyday object. In all around 120 have been found explains Creemers: “In the Netherlands, France, Austria and Switzerland. They only occur in the north west, not in southern Italy or Greece.
A dodecahedron is a geometric figure that possesses twelve pentagonal sides that have little spheres at each corner. The one found in Limburg is made of bronze and is hollow inside. Each side has an opening of a different size. So far four dodecahedrons have been found in Belgium, though one hasn’t been documented: in Tongeren (Limburg), Bassenge (Liege), in Rumst (Antwerp - undocumented) and now in Kortessem.
The areas in which dodecahedrons were found correspond to areas once inhabited by Celtic tribes. “We believe it’s there that the explanation needs to be found” says Creemers. “The Romans set great store by magic, curses and soothsaying. These activities were in conflict with the official religion and banned as a result. Laws were strictly enforced”.
“We believe the dodecahedron belongs to the occult underground, but nobody really knows what it was used for. Dodecahedrons have been found in graves, theatres, houses and baths making interpretation complicated. It isn’t mentioned in any texts either”.
This latter element illustrates the dodecahedron wasn’t an everyday object because the Romans didn’t shy away from writing all about their lives.
Creemers notes many possible explanations for the dodecahedron have been put forward: “It’s a candlestick holder, a primitive instrument of land measurement...”
Others have suggested it’s an aid to knit gloves, an instrument to help in the navigation of ships, part of a sceptre or a die to predict the future. Some dodecahedrons show the signs of the zodiac.
Creemers doesn’t set much store by such explanations. He’s not holding his breath to hear the real explanation either: “The minute we really know what it was used for, the magic disappears”.