Journal of Archaeological Science 1976,3, 165-l 72

Some Observations on Puff-balls from British Archaeological Sites

R. Watling” and M. R. D. Seawardb

The occurrence of the puff-ball Bovista nigrescens in four British archaeological sites, approximately 2000 years old, is investigated, and the related Calvatia utri- formis is reported for the first tune in archaeological excavations from one of these sites. The circumstances of their discovery at two of these sites (Skara Brae and Vindolanda) strongly suggest that they did not arrive there fortuitously. The puff- balls are considered to have been used as haemostatic agents and/or as tinder. A detailed morphological comparison of early specimens with present-day material is made.

Introduction Two species of p&I-ball, Bovista nigrescens Pers. ex Pets. and Calvatiu utriformis (Bull. ex Pers.) Jaap, of the Lycoperdaceae have recently been discovered in the pre-Hadrianic deposits (c. A.D. 85-125) at Vindolanda, Northumberland (Grid ref: 35/771662). Bovista nigrescens, a species also recorded from archaeological sites at Skara Brae (Watling, 1974, 1975), Stanwick, North Yorkshire (Wheeler, 1954) and in a Roman well at Stole, Norfolk (P. Lambley, in litt.), is more numerous than Cdvutia utriformis in the Vindolanda deposits.

In the present study, Bovista nigrescens was identified by the warted, distinctly pedi- cellate basidiospores, 5-6 urn in diameter, and the free capillitium threads with acute branching. Furthermore, the purple-chestnut colour of the spores had been retained during preservation as had the overall purple-brown colour of the fruit-body. Cdvatia utriformis was identified by the smooth basidiospores up to 5 urn in diameter with very short pedicel, and the capillitium threads. The important single distinguishing character is the large sterile base which constitutes the larger part of the subglobular fruit-body.

All fruit-bodies were fully mature and showed no signs of the two-layered peridial structure of the immature specimen. Because the immature and mature fruit-bodies are so different, complete descriptions are included here of the two species, based on European material in the Edinburgh herbarium and on field notes of one of the authors (RW). It is particularly interesting that over a period of nearly 2000 years no morpho- logical differences could be detected between the fruit-bodies of the two species from both the archaeological and the modern collections.

The two sites at Vindolanda and Skara Brae, which yielded the largest number of specimens, are of particular interest in view of the considerable body of information available on the associated artifacts and environmental evidence. Although detailed

a Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland. b School of Environmental Science, University of Bradford, England

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166 R. WATLING AND M. R. D. SEAWARD

analysis has not yet been undertaken on the associated material at Skara Brae, J. H. Dickson (in litt.) has examined a small sample and detected fragments of moss, sedge and grass, together with seeds of the campion family and pollen of grass, dandelion and plantain. Some 200 fragments of wood were also recovered, including one or two worked pieces, as well as some fragments of rope.

The puff-balls were obtained from layers determined by radiocarbon dating to be between 1750 and 2130 years old. The 1972 and 1973 excavations at Skara Brae by the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland and the University of Edinburgh were in undisturbed midden material which provides a picture of the environment and economic activities of the inhabitants. Two areas of known midden deposits were selected: one near the centre of the settlement and the other on the eastern periphery where the results from one of the early test pits suggested a midden high enough in moisture content to preserve organic material (Childe, 1931).

The central area of these recent excavations proved to contain solid midden deposits to a depth of 1.70 m, below which there was a complex series of superimposed middens and structural features to a total depth of 4.30 m. These deposits were rich in food debris, particularly mammal and fish bones, and numerous artifacts similar to those found by Childe (1931). The earliest level also produced considerable quantities of grain (mainly barley). Excavations on the periphery of the site produced a sequence of midden deposits less rich than those in the central area and separated one from another by layers of sand. One of the lower middens had the high moisture content which was hoped for, and it was from here that Bovista nigrescens was obtained.

In contrast, the puff-balls obtained from the Vindolanda site were discovered in three occupational debris strata which can be dated as AD (85-)90-95, AD 95-105(-l 10) and AD (105-)llO-125. These strata have a very high organic content (61-89x by dry weight) and large water-holding capacity, and are composed mainly of bracken, urine-impregnated straw, bryophytes (including Hylocomium splendens, Acrocladium cuspidatum, Brachythecium rutabulum, Pseudoscleropodium purum, Pleurozium schreberi, Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus, Thuidium tamariscinum, Mnium undulatum and Polytrichum commune) and twigs of ash, hazel, oak, pine, rowan and willow. Other macrophytic remains include hazel nuts, acorns, gorse pods, heather stems and as yet very limited remains of unidentified leaves and stems. The occupational debris is also rich in artifacts and fauna1 material (e.g. insects, mollusc shells, bones and feathers). The environmental evidence at Vindolanda is discussed in more detail in Seaward (1976a, b).

The Vindolanda material agrees approximately in age with that found at Stanwick (i.e. first century AD). This discovery was perhaps a chance fruit-body, being associated with willow, hawthorn and elder debris (Wheeler, 1954). The Norfolk find also probably refers to a chance fruit-body, the associated material in this case being Roman sandals and pieces of fashioned woodwork all in a good state of preservation. The well in which they were found was probably filled in during the second century AD (P. Lambley, in litt.).

To date, 13 fruit-bodies of Bovista nigrescens have been recovered from Skara Brae and three of B. nigrescens and two of Calvatia utrtjormis from Vindolanda; in these numbers they cannot be regarded as chance occurrences.

Morphology In the following descriptions, features observed in the archaeological material are italicized.

Bovista nigrescens Pers. ex Pers. (= Lycoperdon nigrescens (Pers.) Vitt.; Globaria nigrescens (Pers.) Quelet) Figure l(a)-(d) and (i), Figure 2(a)-(d).

PUFF-BALLS FROM BRITISH SITES 167

Figure 1. (a)-(d) Bovistu nigrescens Pers. ex Pers. (a) and (b) Drummond Hill, Perthshire, Wat. 317; (c) and (d) Vindolanda (SA 70/50 OS 36, level 10). (e)-(h) Cdvatia utriformis (Bull. ex Pets.) Jaap. (e) and (f) Isle of Rhum, Inverness-shire, Wat. 5803 ; (g) and (h) Vindolanda (SA 70/40 OS 80, level 6). (a), (c), (e) and (g) capillitium threads; (a’), (c’), (e’) and (g’) ends to capillitium threads; (b), (d), (f) and (h) basidiospores; (i) and (j) diagrammatic sections of basidiocarps of B. nigrescens and C. utriformis, respectively. Arrows indi-

cate breaking points of endoperidium and basidiocarp base.

168 R. WATLJNG AND M. R. D. SEAWARD

Fruit-body (gasterocarp) up to 40 mm in diameter, almost spherical to ellipsoid, white when young, finally purple-brown to blackish-purple; outer skin (exoperidium) white, smooth or at the most with slight cubic plaques, soon peeling off to expose a thin, tough, papery inner layer (endoperidium); all trace of exoperidium lost at maturity; in section endoperidium also white when immature; inner spore-bearing tissue (gleba) white then olivaceous, finally purple-brown, soft and loose.

Basidiospores brown, ellipsoid or spherical, 5-6pm with long persistent, colourless stalks up to 8 pm long, purplish-brown to purplish-chestnut in water, slightly darker in alkali solutions, held in cotton-woolly matrix consisting of free thick-walled, brown threads (capillitium) 12-16 ,um at their broadest, numerously forked and tapering sharply at ends of acutely angled side-branches.

As in other members of the Lycoperdaceae, the peridium of the fruit-body is composed of two layers: an outer, fleshy one which soon breaks away in patches and a tough membranous inner one. The fruit-body has a definite apical pore through which clouds of spores are dispersed when the fruit-body is struck or dislodged from the substrate, Unlike the closely-related genera, Lycoperdon, Calvatia and Langermannia, the capillitium threads are free.

The closely-related Bovistaplumbea Pers. ex Pers. differs in the smaller, almost smooth basidiospores which have a very long pedicel and leaden-grey endoperidium. Both species are to be found on downs and heaths and in pastures. They are both widespread; material of B. nigrescens has been examined from Greenland, Scandinavia and North America as well as the British Isles.

Calvatia utriformis (Bull. ex Pers.) Jaap (= Lycoperdon caelatum Bull. ; Calvatia caelata (Bull.) Morgan) Figure l(e)-(h) and (j), Figure 2(e)-(h). Fruit-body up to 100 mm across, rounded or pyriform but eroding away with age to

give a goblet-like structure, white then ochraceous-grey; contracted below to a more or less stem-like base; outer surface scurfy with evanescent fluffy warts arranged irregularly in hexagonal pattern, particularly in the lower part where a net-work results; inner layer thin, fragile and easily broken up; spore-mass white at first then olivaceous- brown.

Basidiospores smooth or very minutely ornamented, spherical, 4-5 ,um in diameter with very shortpedicels up to 1 urn long, held in cotton-woolly matrix of sinuous, elongate threads attached to the inner surface of the endoperidium, yellowish-olive in water, darker in alkali solutions, branched, brittle and 6-7,um broad, aseptate or occasionally septate with undulate walls up to 1.5 urn thick.

This species is easily recognized when mature by the broad, sterile base (subgleba) of large cells, making up between one-third and one-half of the fruit-body, and separated from the gleba by a distinct membrane. The subgleba extends up the side for a short dis- tance as a tapering margin of a cup. The seemingly smooth spores distinguish it readily from the other common European species, C. excipuliformis (Schaeff. ex Pers.) Perdeck ( = C. saccata (Fr.) Morgan) which has warted spores and a distinct pestle-like shape. Langermannia ( = Lasiosphaera) gigantea (Batsch ex. Pers.) Rostk., formerly placed in

Figure 2. (a)-(d) &vista nigrescens Pers. ex Pers. (a) Loch Loy, Nairnshire, 7.v.1967, Wat. 4974; (b) Drummond Hill, Perthshire, 27.ix.1961, Wat. 317(3); (c), (c’), (d) and (d’) Vindolanda (SA 70/50 OS 36, level 10). (e)-(h) Calvutiu urrijknis (Bull. ex Pers.) Jaap. (e) Shiehallion, Perthshire, 26.viii.1963, Henderson 942; (f) Kihnory, Isle of Rhum, Inverness-shire, 26.vii.1964, Wat. 5816; (g) Papadil, Isle of Rhum, Inverness-shire, 28.vii.1964, Wat. 5803;

Q Vindolanda (SA 70/40 OS 80, level 6).

Figure 2.

170 R. WATLING AND M. R. D. SEAWARD

Calvatia, also has warted spores but lacks the sterile base; in this latter respect, this species resembles Bovista nigrescens. However, the two can be distinguished on spore characters alone, those of Langermannia gigantea being much smaller and olivaceous in colour. The spores of Calvatia utr[formis are dispersed as the fruit-body erodes away; there is no distinct pore as in the species of Lycoperdon.

C. utriformis may be found in woods, pastures and on heaths, and frequently in fixed sand-dunes. It is not uncommon in Northern Britain although apparently less frequent in the south. It is widespread in North America and Europe.

Discussion Puff-balls are dealt with in most books covering the culinary aspects of mycology. Many species are sought after as delicacies and may be purchased in markets throughout the world. They are eaten when white and immature, but once gathered at this stage and not eaten they become soft and watery inside, discolour and often produce a foetid odour. Therefore, once picked in an immature state, they do not produce mature basidio- spores. Furthermore, some species of puff-ball have been reported as poisonous when eaten in a partially or fully mature state. It is unlikely that the inedible mature fruit- bodies would be collected in error for consumption as the immature ones look quite different, furthermore, immature and mature fruit-bodies do not usually occur together.

A varied range of fungi were widely eaten in Roman times, more usually as a luxury food, and their collection and use are referred to by Horace (c. 65-8 BC) and Ovid (c. 43 BC-AD 19). However, the puff-balls found at Vindolanda may either have arrived there naturally or they had been collected for some purpose other than for eating. The full maturity of all the fruit-bodies found in the deposits also indicates that they were not collected for games as indicated by Clusius (Ramsbottom, 1953), for they are only like ping-pong balls, suitable for throwing, when young.

As stated above, the fruit-body of Bovista nigrescens lacks rooting mycelial cords to anchor it. Consequently, at maturity, it is loosened from its substrate and transported by wind; in this way, mature fruit-bodies could have rolled into encampments in much the same manner as autumnal leaves. The finding of Calvatia utrtformis, however, would indicate this is not simply the case; its presence tends to support the possibility that the puff-balls had been deliberately collected. C. utriformis differs from Bovista nigrescens in that it does not so easily become loosened from its attachment and the spores are dispersed by erosion of the gleba, finally leaving the sterile base as an open goblet almost devoid of spores and capillitium threads. In this state, it is persistent and almost im- pervious to rain, remaining in situ months after the spores have been dispersed before finally being loosened and blown about.

Bovista oj?cinalis, or sumnopere laudate according to Vittadini (Ramsbottom, 1953), is in fact Langermannia gigantea. This fungus was used in its mature state to staunch bleeding by barber-surgeons. Other species of puff-ball have been used for the same purpose although no specific reference to members of Bovista and Calvatiu are known from literature sources. Ramsbottom (1953) quotes the Romany phrase “Quanda mandi chivs moilee ke vindi morripude” (when a man cuts his finger he uses a puff-ball) and also indicates that a string of dried puff-balls may occasionally still be seen strung by the fireplace in farm kitchens in case of emergency.

Surgeons in the late part of the 19th century used puff-ball powder as a haemostatic; in fact, in the Medical Annals for 1883-84 it is described as “a most powerful haemo- static”. In more recent years it has been proposed to use these organisms as a styptic in veterinary work. Gerard (1633) in his Herbal refers to the use of “powder” of puff- balls to stop bleeding when “it is fitly applied to merigals, kibed helles and such like”, and in Gooch (1767), puff-balls are recommended for “retarding the fall of the eschar

PUFF-BALLS FROM BRITISH SITES 171

as long as possible”. Various polypores have been used for cauterization; their use is attested throughout the ages from Greek classical writers to modern Scandinavian accounts. J. D. Hooker (1854) relates that the Lepchas of Eastern Nepal, Sikkim and West Bhutan use a piece of smouldering puff-ball as a moxa (i.e. burnt on the skin) as a cautery or counter-irritant for gout. An anti-tumour agent has been found in Langer- mannia gigantea (Beneke, 1963).

Gerard (1633) also describes how fire can be reserved in a smouldering puff-ball in order to be carried from one place to another. One of us (RW) has shown how Bovista nigrescens can be effectively used as a bonfire-night lighter for setting-off fireworks. Fames fomentarius (L. ex Fr.) Fr. has long been used to keep fires going and is known to have been an important constituent of the soldier’s tinder-box. There is strong reason to believe that puff-balls were used as tinder at Vindolanda; perhaps the farmhouse puff- balls might also have been used for this in addition to or alternatively for medicinal purposes.

Presumably puff-ball wool would be suitable for stopping up draughts in walls con- structed of inter-woven branches of various species of trees (Seaward, 1976a) or as packing between unfashioned woodwork in much the same way as bryophytes are used in some countries to this day. Smoke leaks in fire-places may have been treated in much the same way as the moss Fontinalis is used. However, the first suggestion, while feasible, would depend on reasonably large quantities of such wool being available, which seems unlikely and the second would seem to be ruled out on the grounds of sparks causing smouldering and eventually fire. Smouldering puff-balls have also been used to subdue hive-bees as is attested in the Zoologist for 1843 : “intoxicating the bee by filling the hive with smoke of an ignited puff-ball”. Ramsbottom (1953) indicates that puff-balls are still used today for such purposes; this being so, it seems a reasonable hypothesis that hives of wild bees were subdued in the past by the same means when raided by man for honey.

In addition to these practical uses for puff-balls, there could be two other less obvious uses for their collection: they may have been collected for possible hallucinogenic properties (two species, Lycoperdon marginatum Vitt. and L. mixtecorum Heim are known to be hallucinogenic-Emboden, 1972), but it has not been established that this is true of the two species under review-there is little historical evidence to support this theory; or, possibly, they may have been collected for use in religious practices involving the worship of phallic objects-their use as sexual symbols being highly probable (see Wasson & Wasson, 1957, for a discussion of the popular terminology of puff-balls in Europe and its significance). However, in the absence of more reliable evidence, such usages must be regarded as highly speculative.

Acknowledgements The authors wish to record their thanks to the following for their help in the preparation of this paper: Mr F. T. Baker, Dr J. H. Dickson, Mr R. Eudall, Mr E. J. Freeman, Miss V. A. Hinton and Mr P. Lambley.

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172 R. WATLING AND M. R. D. SEAWARD

Gooch, B. (1767). A Practical Treatise on Wounds and other Chirurgical Subjects. Norwich: Printed for the author.

Hooker, J. D. (1854). Himalayan Journals: or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim, and Nepal Himalayas, the Kahafia Mountains, etc. London: J. Murray.

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Note added in proof: We are indebted to Mr B. J. Coppins for drawing our attention to the following paper which refers to the occurrence of Bovista nigrescens within the debris above a log pavement associated with a prehistoric lake-dwelling: Munro, R. (1879). Notice of the excava- tion of a crannog at Lochlee, Tarbolton, Ayrshire. (With a report on the flora of the crannog by I. B. Balfour.) Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1, 175-252.