455
it's obviously a thingamajig
(lemmy.nz)
cross-posted from: https://lemy.lol/post/72694016 (original title: YOU BASTARDS)
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this post was submitted on 12 Oct 2026
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Theory: They were masterpieces, in the old meaning
A masterpiece was an item you would craft or something you would do to earn you the rank of Master in your Guild.
This is easy to describe and judge, but hard to make if you aren't experienced.
They put them in their gold hoardes as they were basically their version of a degree
(If you're a metalworker and want to check if you would've earned the rank of Master in an ancient Guild, you can try to make one of these)
Or maybe it was the opposite, they were a basic project assigned to beginner metalsmiths to teach them the different skills. That's why they're everywhere, because everyone who went to the Roman equivalent of trade school made, like, 1-3.
If I recall correctly, they aren't everywhere though.
Afaik they were only found in provinces but not in Italy.
More specifically they were largely found in Gaul and Britain, so I assume it's nonsense that spread around with the Romano-Celts. Either as noted a masterwork or maybe some type of scrying tool. There are examples of similar objects both pre and post Rome so take that as you will.
Probably something silly like the latest hot ticket item at Pier 1 Imports or IKEA or some shit. Y’kno, like the silly bands of their time! 🤪
Roman fidget spinner
Nothing like showing off your mastery of the craft by... making the exact same thing everyone else did.
If they're trying to objectively evaluate someone's skills that's exactly what you would want to do. If you have to come up with a different criteria for every submission then it starts to become subjective quickly.
Standardized testing!
Check out 90% of woodworking posts, logic holds up.
Oh shit, is the epoxy river table our version of the dodecahedron!? 😱
Wait till the wood rots away and all future archaeologists find is the epoxy.
"We believe 21st century rich people put a long strip of epoxy in their homes for ritualistic purposes. Though some have suggested it's pretty obviously some device for knitting."
Oh cmon, it's obviously a dildo but the scientists didn't want to say it out loud.
Art historians prefer the term “fertility idol”
Wait till they find the terabytes of fertility idols on my computer.
That everyone else knows is pain in the dickhole to make? Yeah, works well, actually.
As is tradition!
but.. tradition is peer pressure from dead people.
and.. dead people turn into zombies.
Ipso facto, you better make it or zombies will take your lunch money.
Logically sound reasoning.
That's unlikely. It seems to have been such a regional thing that I don't think it's that. If it were, you expect it to come from a Roman tradition, or at least be adopted by them, yet these aren't found there.
Roman guilds I think?
Psssh, you can CNC that bad boy in an hour with close to no work.
With quite a bit of work. That's more than one setup and probably a decent amount of time getting the CAM programming right.
Stefan Milo on YouTube did a video (likely more) on these things and he debunked that theory somehow or another. I can't watch it right now to remember what he said, at work.
Isn't this not likely since it wasn't just metalworkers that had them?
I honestly wonder if there was just some autistic metalworker who came up with this weird fucking design and made a million of them like a psychotic dwarf, and then people started to get fascinated and wanted their own. A literal thingamajig that just fascinated people because of how complex and specific it was, and it just became a cultural phenomenon.
That's been a common theory for many years but it's between "eeeh, maybe" and debunked.
Here's a tip: don't publicly theorise about things that you have close to no knowledge about. This shouldn't have to be said.
Your tip is actually really bad. Getting opinions from people who aren't metalworkers or archaeologists or anthropologists is often how answers to these questions are discovered. There are many inventions/discoveries/realizations that are made from people in different trades approaching problems differently.
Nothing wrong with discussing shit you're not an expert on. If it's not proven, it's not proven, they're not hurting anything by suggesting their ideas. You don't have to be an expert to do that. Maybe someone will come up with something no one has thought of before that could then be investigated by experts.
Do you actually have debunktions for it at hand?
Also, it's a meme forum. Why shouldn't people be allowed to spitball here? It's not like they made some absolute claim to truth.