A mysterious Roman object unearthed in an amateur dig has baffled experts as it goes on display in Britain for the first time.
The 12-sided object was discovered in Norton Disney, near Lincoln, in 2023, and will go on display at Lincoln Museum as part of the city’s Festival of History.
Richard Parker, secretary of the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group, said it was a “privilege to have handled” the dodecahedron, but was still at a loss over what it was.
It didn’t take them decades to come up with the idea that they were for magical use, it took them decades to fail to arrive at a better consensus.
It took them decades to thoroughly and methodically rule out other explanations to make sure their initial estimation is accurate.
Archeologists are highly educated professionals that spends a lot of time and effort into research. I don’t know why you want to portray them as bumbling idiots that make shit up when they dont know.
He’s saying that archaeologists have a tendency to grandiously assign religious or ceremonial purposes to uncovered objects when they should start with mundane purposes first. This object looks like a dice. Therefore, the first potential purpose should be a dice, not a mystical device to contact the Goa’uld.
I’m not portraying archaeologists as making shit up—I’m saying people in general jump to “magic rituals” when archaeologists can’t provide a definitive answer. The person quoted was explicitly speculating, not providing a professional opinion.