“They built copper and iron shields, put sand into them, and heated them over hot fire so the sand became red-hot. By means of some mechanism they threw this sand at those who had fought bravest… The sand penetrated through the armour into the shirts, burned the body, and it could not be helped… they died, going mad with horrible pain, in sufferings piteous and unquenchable.”
It’s the most likely use, IMO. They could be mace heads intended for personal protection. The different holes would be to accommodate different handle diameters, making it easy to swap to another handle if it breaks.
Grok said it’s a weapon, so we can eliminate that one.
Almost anything is a weapon if you try.
Pocket dodecahedron!
There are far, far more things that cannot be a weapon than can be.
For instance, a single grain of sand.
With enough velocity it will still kill you.
Also gather more and heat them up.
“They built copper and iron shields, put sand into them, and heated them over hot fire so the sand became red-hot. By means of some mechanism they threw this sand at those who had fought bravest… The sand penetrated through the armour into the shirts, burned the body, and it could not be helped… they died, going mad with horrible pain, in sufferings piteous and unquenchable.”
It’s the most likely use, IMO. They could be mace heads intended for personal protection. The different holes would be to accommodate different handle diameters, making it easy to swap to another handle if it breaks.