Without the written word or knowledge banks, our history becomes a mystery. Take the Roman dodecahedron. There is no commonly agreed-upon use or need for these 12-sided dodecahedron ancient Roman artifacts. Experts believe some possible uses for these fist-sized metal constructions include games, candleholders, rangefinders, scepter heads, surveying instruments and ritualistic or religious purposes.
Part of the reason the dodecahedrons are such a mystery is that no writings or visual references have been found. Since our knowledge essentially rides on written language, it causes a problem when archeologists cannot find references to artifacts. What will our future ancestors learn from us in 2000 years? Will DVDs and videos be enough to explain our lifestyle and devices? Have we embedded our knowledge in ways that will stand up to the test of time? Only time will tell…
What are your thoughts? What could this device/artifact have been used for?