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.
Spaghetti portion measurer.
This is SCP-184.
But you probably don’t have access to that file.
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.
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?
It could also have been used for a game
I say it’s a key to a door. Behind the door. Butt plugs.
Seems pretty convincing and matches gold bracelets made in the era.
I’ve actually seen an old lady knit gloves with one as well.
A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON
Nope.
It’s a Roman plumbus.
Everyone Roman has one
I always wondered how they made those
with lead probably
They’ve actually all been planted by time travelers just to fuck with people.
All we know for certain is that at some point that thing was on some bored Romans knob.
It’s probably some kids workshop assignment that he brought home to his parents.
Except there’s heaps of them
Part of a standardized curriculum
Actual guess after hearing that they’re found with money. Used it to check size of coins for valuation? Sort of like how some coin counters with?
A piggy bank even?
Must be ceremonial.
So it’s a sex toy, got it.
A fertility ceremonial, got it!
Did it went up or got filled?
I always loved David Macauley take on this. He wrote a book as if people 2000 years ago found a motel and he presumed the “sanitized for your protection” banding and toilet seats would have been seen as ceremonial wear.
https://www.byanyothernerd.com/2020/04/stranger-days-39-mysteries-of-motel.html?m=1
Ehh idk about this take. I agree with the article that there are some commercial historical mediums like the History Channel that interpret the past in an absurd/almost malicious way. However modern archaeology does a really good job of finding out how objects from the past were used and how people interacted with their environment. A toilet is not really gonna be up for debate as for what its use was. Historical text, fecal remains, toilets looking pretty similar for the past thousand years, is gonna tell you it’s a toilet.
The notion of our interpretation of the past being completely flawed is kinda true if it was like the 1950s and we were talking about non-western cultures from a western perspective.
Again this is a children’s book.
ion know why you saying “again” like you made a big point of it being a children’s book (you didn’t). I’m just saying I don’t like media like this. It feels like they’re delegitimizing research that is already brushed off by society as not useful compared to something in a stem field.
We can have different opinions lol
I remember reading a book as a kid, I can’t remember if it was this or maybe inspired by this, but adapted for kids (iirc the art style was more cartoony and comedic) where archeologists unearth a motel called the Toot and C’mon.
Edit: after a bit of searching I think it was this book. Unlocked some memories I didn’t realize I had.
This guy did a bunch of kids books. My favorites were Castle and Pyramid.
I can’t remember if it’s an official Asimov book or not, but one of the Foundation books set far beyond even the main series has an archaeological mission finding thousands of ceremonial hard white ceramic bowl-funnels and speculating on their significance to these incomprehensibly ancient peoples.
thousands
There’s probably millions even if you account for the fact that most would have been destroyed
What if instead toilet seats become a symbol for a group of genetically engineered super soldiers known for being Mary Sues?
Underrated joke
