Physical Features: Hollow Bronze Objects with 12 Pentagonal Faces. Four varieties: bronze (majority), iron, silver, and gold (from Vietnam/China) All hollow with 12 pentagonal faces, 30 edges, 20 corners Each corner has a solid ball pinned and soldered to the body
Hollow copper alloy objects with 12 pentagonal faces. Each corner has a small knob. Size varies 40-85mm, weight 35-330g. Each face has a circular hole of varying sizes. Cast using lost wax method.
Key facts:
- Primarily copper alloy (bronze), with rare iron examples documented
- All hollow with 12 pentagonal faces, 30 edges, 20 corners
- Each corner has a solid ball pinned and soldered to the body
- One exception from London has three balls per corner
- Height range: 40-85mm, weight: 35-330g (one outlier at 1,044g)
- Found mainly in Western Europe (Roman Empire / Gallo-Roman territories)
Key Facts
- Four varieties: bronze (majority), iron, silver, and gold (from Vietnam/China)
- All hollow with 12 pentagonal faces, 30 edges, 20 corners
- Each corner has a solid ball pinned and soldered to the body
- One exception from London has three balls per corner
- Height range: 40-85mm, weight: 35-330g (one outlier at 1,044g)
- Each face has a hole, none of the same size - no two dodecahedra are alike
- Lab tests reveal bronze composition with copper, tin, lead, zinc, phosphorus, iron, aluminum
- Probably formed using lost wax method with imperfect casting
Source: The Dodecahedron: Everything You Wanted to Know About Rome's Most Mysterious Artifact by The Historian's Craft