Thank you, Roman.  I find hundrerds, if not thousands of these specimens 
in flotation samples from northeastern North America.  I have seen very 
large ones, >7.0 mm down to 0.5 mm.  Some do look like legumes.  I asked 
a professor who specialized in fungi to examine and sample and he came 
back with that identification.  It is my strong hunch that these 
specimens are the same.

Tonya Baroody Largy

Roman Hovsepyan wrote:
> I just found part of the mails in spam folder...
> Tonya Largy: Sorry that did not mention your suggestion about 
> Cenococcum! Yes, those may also be sclerotia of Cenococcum.
> Roman
> Roman Hovsepyan, PhD in Biology
> Research Scientist, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography NAS RA
> Address: 15 Charents str., 0025, Yerevan, Armenia
> Tel.: (+374) 55 55 05 29 /mobile/
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Tonya Largy <[log in to unmask]>
> *To:* [log in to unmask]
> *Sent:* Tuesday, May 10, 2011 9:09 PM
> *Subject:* Re: mineralised 'mystery objects' photograph
>
> 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] 
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
> >    *To:* [log in to unmask] 
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> > <mailto:[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
> >
>
>