Have you ruled out the possibility that these are sclerotia
(Cenococcum)? They come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.
Tonya Largy
Wendy Carruthers wrote:
> Here are some examples from the Late Bronze Age 'midden' at Potterne,
> Wiltshire, as described in my Circaea piece (sorry about the poor, out
> of focus photo). As you can see, they vary a great deal in size though
> the surface textures and often-dimpled shapes suggest they are the
> same things.
> After all these years I have still not found out what they are, but my
> feeling is that they may have a chemical rather than biological origin
> as they do not have a surface cell structure and they appear to be
> crystalline inside (hollow & different to most mineralised seeds). I
> don't think they are likely to be legumes as these rarely become
> mineralised when whole (though occasionally you get a whole pea), and
> the surface structure is wrong.
> I would love to find out what they are as they are strongly associated
> with mineralisation and are sometimes abundant in mineralised
> deposits. Are there any soil scientists that could help, please?
> Wendy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Lisa Gray <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> *Sent:* Tuesday, May 10, 2011 4:20 PM
> *Subject:* Re: mineralised 'mystery objects' photograph
>
> Thankyou Georgia,
>
> Sadly, what you've indicated are specs of dried mud (I didn't
> process these) rather than indentations. These are a small
> example of a lot that I have. Many are simply round. They're
> hollow when broken. Their colour is beige and not the reddish
> colour this photograph gives.
>
> Some do seem to have a legume-like shape. Has anyone
> experimentally mineralised legumes? I can imagine that fresh
> legumes would find their way into rubbish or cesspits and become
> mineralised. Mineralisation may completely obscure the anatomical
> features.
>
> I'll give this question a few more days then complete the report
> I'm writing. I just thought it would be interesting to find out if
> anyone had done any more details analysis of these objects (i.e.
> SEM, chemical) and worked out what they are.
>
> Lisa
>
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