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Ah yes. Found an artifact? Must be either a weapon, otherwise a military thing, or it must be religious. If it was any of these, you'd have found them mentioned

Ah yes. Found an artifact? Must be either a weapon, otherwise a military thing, or it must be religious. If it was any of these, you'd have found them mentioned in texts. It's probably just some largely irrelevant garbage. A fad people back then went through. A toy, not necessarily a children's toy, or a tool of probably questionable use (like that apple slicer you bought). Anything actually useful wouldn't have been forgotten that quickly. Those people with the knitting/sewing tool explanation might be onto something.

number6 5y ago
So these are some kind of fidget spinner?
monkeywork 5y ago
your thought process makes sense looking at the problem through the eyes of someone used to mass production and cheap materials. these were made during a time that the expertise to create plus the material itself was expensive, and these have been found in a wide area so not some incredibly niche item. tools of questionable use would quickly fall from use and not spread beyond the first few creations, toys or trinkets would likely not be made of metal nor stored with other valuables like coins etc. this doesn't mean it is of military or religious significance but I do think this is more than a toy. The fact that it seems to be geographically locked (thus culturally locked) leads me to think this is a cultural item or something that was more useful for that geography - there have been those who have linked it to a calendar. This makes sense given the geometry of the item (12 months [sides], 30days [edges]) and in the northern area's it would be of greater need to time crops - especially for feeding large armies from Rome. The idea of expensive toys / fads can definitely have it's place in very small numbers and incredibly narrow regions, beyond that I think you have to look for more useful needs.
wsc981 5y ago
I was thinking this thing might be useful somehow for dealing with ropes perhaps. Maybe some way to carry rope around in a ball maybe?
avereveard 5y ago
> It's probably just some largely irrelevant garbage. bronze is not something they'd throw around for trinkets, if it were, it'd be iron or lead.

number6 5y ago

So these are some kind of fidget spinner?

monkeywork 5y ago

your thought process makes sense looking at the problem through the eyes of someone used to mass production and cheap materials. these were made during a time that the expertise to create plus the material itself was expensive, and these have been found in a wide area so not some incredibly niche item. tools of questionable use would quickly fall from use and not spread beyond the first few creations, toys or trinkets would likely not be made of metal nor stored with other valuables like coins etc. this doesn't mean it is of military or religious significance but I do think this is more than a toy. The fact that it seems to be geographically locked (thus culturally locked) leads me to think this is a cultural item or something that was more useful for that geography - there have been those who have linked it to a calendar. This makes sense given the geometry of the item (12 months [sides], 30days [edges]) and in the northern area's it would be of greater need to time crops - especially for feeding large armies from Rome. The idea of expensive toys / fads can definitely have it's place in very small numbers and incredibly narrow regions, beyond that I think you have to look for more useful needs.

wsc981 5y ago

I was thinking this thing might be useful somehow for dealing with ropes perhaps. Maybe some way to carry rope around in a ball maybe?

avereveard 5y ago

> It's probably just some largely irrelevant garbage. bronze is not something they'd throw around for trinkets, if it were, it'd be iron or lead.