One of the most interesting specimens submitted was a piece of basket-work made of the cleaned cores of stems of the hair-moss Polytrichum (commune) (Plate XV. supra). The stems of this moss are commonly a foot to eighteen inches long, and often attain a length considerably greater. The central stele, when cleaned, forms, as I have proved for myself, a tough pliable strand easily plaited, and quite suitable for the formation of such articles as baskets. When freshly cleaned, the core has a reddish colour and glossy surface, and basket-work of the material would not only be quite strong, but would, at least at first, have an attractive appearance. I am indebted to Mr. J. Masters Hellier, the curator of the Kew Museums, for particulars of articles made of this moss in the Kew Collections, and I give his list, as it supplies one with an idea of the use made of the moss in recent times.
LIST OF ARTICLES IN THE KEW MUSEUMS MADE OF HAIR MOSS, POLYTRICHUM COMMUNE, L.
| 1. Basket from near Wallington, Northumberland, received at Kew | 1851. |
| 2. Broom and brush, from Munich, received at Kew, | 1858. |
| 3. Hassock, from Yorkshire, " " | 1852. |
| 4. Broom, from Sussex, " " | 1852. |
| 5. Broom used by people at Hawkhead, near Windermere, received at Kew | 1855. |
'A four-plied plaited object made of the long stems' of this hair-moss, and a 'fringe-like structure made by plaiting together at one end' the long strands of the same moss, were found at the Lochlee Crannog.[1]
These records seem to indicate that a knowledge of the pliable and tough nature of the stems of this moss and of its usefulness as a strand in the manufacture of plaited articles—a craft which the basket work from the Newstead Roman Station would indicate to have been appreciated, if not practised, by the Romans—must have been of greater antiquity than the period of the Roman occupation.
TABLE I
SAMPLES OF EARTH AND VEGETABLE REMAINS FROM PITS AND OTHER SITUATIONS
Sample A.—A dark vegetable earth containing a considerable number of pieces of chipped oak, evidently chippings of timber of some size. Mixed with other vegetable remains are twigs of hazel and birch in some quantity, the former being particularly numerous, while pieces of hazel bark are plentiful, some of the pieces being from trees of fair size. There is also a certain amount of charcoal and a piece of burnt bone. This sample yielded twigs of Pyrus Aucuparia with bark.
Sample B.—From this I obtained wood of Pyrus Aria, some of the branches being of fair size. The great bulk of the material consists of leaves of grasses matted and pressed together. The deposit is almost entirely of a vegetable nature, but the material is too much decomposed to determine its character. Many small wood chips, chiefly birch, are present, and pieces of birch bark.
1 Munro, in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. xiii.
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