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Comment by mkehrt | Hacker News Reader

Roman dodecahedra predate knitting by almost a thousand years. The earliest known knitting was from the 11th century (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knitting#History_and_culture), while the earliest dodecahedra are from the 2nd century (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dodecahedron#History)

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Meanwhile, elsewhere on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_knitting

>Earlier pieces having a knitted or crocheted appearance have been shown to be made with other techniques, such as Nålebinding, a technique of making fabric by creating multiple loops with a single needle and thread, much like sewing.[4] Some artefacts have a structure so similar to knitting, for example, 3rd-5th century CE Romano-Egyptian toe-socks, that it is thought the "Coptic stitch" of nalbinding is the forerunner to knitting.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nålebinding

The lack of signs of wear is a bigger problem for this hypothesis IMHO

To doubt that knitting existed in Roman Times is preposterous. Thats like saying they could not weave baskets. Instead your incredible hypothesis lends credence to recent studies by internet sleuths that indicate history as we are taught may have an extra 1000 years added simply because dates have been mistranslated or misconstrued to read a 1 (one) where there is indeed an I or J symbol, denoting years since the Christ; IOW that that 1999 is actually J999.

Knitting is from the Neolithic. The Chinese were already knitting silk about 3000 years ago.

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