Among the numerous items of equipment with the ‘Iceman’,
who died more than 5000 years ago on an alpine glacier, were three
fungal objects: two different shaped fruitbody pieces of the polypore
Piptoporus betulinus, each mounted separately on a leather
thong, and, found in his girdle bag, a relatively large quantity of
tinder material prepared from the ‘true tinder bracket’ Fomes
fomentarius. A full description of these items and a chronological
report on their identification is given. The question about the
possible use of the fungi is discussed on the basis of a comprehensive
collection of ethnomycological and pharmacological literature data.