- A Roman dodecahedron, a mysterious 12-sided metal object, was discovered in the village of Norton Disney in England.
- The artifact is in excellent condition and is larger than many other dodecahedrons that have been found.
- The purpose of these objects remains unclear, but theories suggest they may have been used for ritualistic or religious purposes.
A bit late replying, but: Sorry, I should maybe have been more clear. This is a very well documented in-joke that I was referencing. It’s a catchall category; “Ritual” is the label given to objects that archeologists don’t have a clue what are. This is extremely prevalent, and if you ask any archeologist about it they’ll verify this.
It’s a well known joke for armchair archeologists.
For the people who work in the field, they know damn well that often times, “ritual object” is, in fact, the correct answer.
Hell, there are practical tools that were also ritual objects. Because humans can turn everything into part of a religion.
I don’t know how to tell you this, but it’s not just “armchair” archeologists that use this one. Also, jeeze, coming in excessively hostile to a reply to a 5-day-stale comment.
Ritual object is the correct answer sometimes, but I don’t think you’ve met many archeologists if you’re unaware of the scope here. There’s many reasons “ritual” became a catchall, the prevalence of modern ritual objects among them (sherds are so miserable that it destroys the capacity for humor?). But I urge you to ask some archeologists, even armchair archeologists, about mayan chicken holes sometime. Its a pretty famous example of “ritual” being proven wrong - but it hilights the extent that “ritual” is just the default explanation for all things that lack strong evidence to explain them.