Marvelous mushrooms

In September 1991, the frozen mummy of a man who lived approximately 5,200 years ago was discovered in the Ötztal Alps on the border between Austria and Italy. The heavily tattooed man had an arrowhead in his left shoulder and was carrying two different species of mushrooms when he perished.

One was a tinder fungus used to transport warm coals to restart his fire. The other was a medicinal mushroom used to fight infections and intestinal parasites.

Mushrooms have been with us a long time. Over 2,000 years ago, Chinese doctors were