Complex Numbers

Twelve Faces

It's late and I just woke up from passing out from drinking (I mean, come on, read the news), and I selected this at random.

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/514246/are-roman-dodecahedrons-worlds-most-m...

The Mysterious Bronze Objects That Have Baffled Archaeologists for Centuries

One August day in 1987, Brian Campbell was refilling the hole left by a tree stump in his yard in Romford, East London, when his shovel struck something metal.

I don't think 1987 was centuries ago.

Campbell placed the artifact on his kitchen windowsill, where it sat for the next 10 or so years. Then, he visited the Roman fort and archaeological park in Saalburg, Germany—and there, in a glass display case, was an almost identical object.

Oh, fine, they were just opening with an anecdote.

Although dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of explanations have been offered to account for the dodecahedrons, no one is certain just what they were used for.

Someone was certain, once.

By the mid-19th century, as more were found, the objects became known to archaeologists as dodecahedrons, from the Greek for “12 faces.”

Wow. What a creative name. No one has ever called anything else a dodecahedron. Except, you know, everyone else who talks about math, Platonic solids, and geometry. But other than that, never.

So what the hell. I have a challenge for you. Come up with your own explanation for these bronze dodecahedrons and comment here. I will give a Merit Badge to whoever makes the comment that I like best. And I don't know. It might be the most plausible theory. Or it might be the one that makes me laugh the most. Or both. Give it a shot - just comment on this entry before midnight tonight and I'll send out the Merit Badge tomorrow.