Editing Moss (section)

===Traditional===
Preindustrial societies made use of the mosses growing in their areas.

[[Sámi peoples|Sámi]] people, [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|North American tribes]], and other [[circumpolar peoples]] used mosses for bedding.<ref name=mathews /><ref name=moss /> Mosses have also been used as insulation both for dwellings and in clothing. Traditionally, dried moss was used in some Nordic countries and Russia as an insulator between logs in [[log cabin]]s, and tribes of the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada used moss to fill chinks in wooden longhouses.<ref name=moss /> Circumpolar and alpine peoples have used mosses for insulation in boots and mittens. [[Ötzi the Iceman]] had moss-packed boots.<ref name=moss />

The capacity of dried mosses to absorb fluids has made their use practical in both medical and culinary uses. North American tribal people used mosses for diapers, wound dressing, and menstrual fluid absorption.<ref name=moss /> Tribes of the Pacific Northwest in the United States and Canada used mosses to clean salmon prior to drying it, and packed wet moss into pit ovens for steaming [[Camassia|camas]] bulbs. Food storage baskets and boiling baskets were also packed with mosses.<ref name=moss />

Recent research investigating the Neanderthals remains recovered from El Sidrón have provided evidence that their diet would have consisted primarily of pine nuts, moss and mushrooms. This is contrasted by evidence from other European locations, which point to a more carnivorous diet.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1038/nature21674| pmid=28273061| title=Neanderthal behaviour, diet, and disease inferred from ancient DNA in dental calculus| journal=Nature| volume=544| issue=7650| pages=357–361| year=2017| last1=Weyrich| first1=Laura S.| last2=Duchene| first2=Sebastian| last3=Soubrier| first3=Julien| last4=Arriola| first4=Luis| last5=Llamas| first5=Bastien| last6=Breen| first6=James| last7=Morris| first7=Alan G.| last8=Alt| first8=Kurt W.| last9=Caramelli| first9=David| last10=Dresely| first10=Veit| last11=Farrell| first11=Milly| last12=Farrer| first12=Andrew G.| last13=Francken| first13=Michael| last14=Gully| first14=Neville| last15=Haak| first15=Wolfgang| last16=Hardy| first16=Karen| last17=Harvati| first17=Katerina| last18=Held| first18=Petra| last19=Holmes| first19=Edward C.| last20=Kaidonis| first20=John| last21=Lalueza-Fox| first21=Carles| last22=de la Rasilla| first22=Marco| last23=Rosas| first23=Antonio| last24=Semal| first24=Patrick| last25=Soltysiak| first25=Arkadiusz| last26=Townsend| first26=Grant| last27=Usai| first27=Donatella| last28=Wahl| first28=Joachim| last29=Huson| first29=Daniel H.| last30=Dobney| first30=Keith| display-authors=29| hdl=10261/152016| bibcode=2017Natur.544..357W| s2cid=4457717| url=https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/d6689cb0-38fa-4d3e-98e4-c8be2bd0263e/1/weyrich2017reconstructing.pdf}}</ref>

In [[Finland]], peat mosses have been used to make bread during [[famines]].<ref>Engman, Max; D. G. Kirby (1989). ''Finland: people, nation, state''. C. Hurst & Co. p. 45. {{ISBN|0-253-32067-4}}.</ref>