What's it for!?

No mention of dodecahedrons has been found in contemporary accounts or pictures of the time. Speculative uses include as a survey instrument for estimating distances to (or sizes of) distant objects, though this is questioned as there are no markings to indicate that they would be a mathematical instrument;[6] as spool knitting devices for making gloves[3] (though the earliest known reference to spool knitting is from 1535,[7][8][9] and this would not explain the use of bronze or the apparently similar icosahedron which is missing the holes necessary for spool knitting); as part of a child's toy;[3] or for decorative purposes.[10]

Several dodecahedra were found in coin hoards, providing evidence that their owners either considered them valuable objects, or believed their only use was connected with coins.[11] It has been suggested that they might have been religious artifacts, or even fortune-telling devices. This latter speculation is based on the fact that most of the examples have been found in Gallo-Roman sites.[12][13] It has also been suggested that they might have been an object to test the skill of a metalsmith, perhaps as part of a portfolio to demonstrate their capabilities to customers or as a way to qualify for a certain status in a collegium (guild). This speculation is based on the historic cost of bronze and the level of skill necessary to cast such an object.[3] Some 19th-century antiquarians speculated that they might be weapons, such as the head of a mace or a metal bullet, but other scholars have suggested that the dodecahedra are too light to make an effective weapon.[3]