Salt in prehistoric Europe / Anthony Harding.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harding, Anthony.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Salt mines and mining, Prehistoric--Europe.

Salt mines and mining, Prehistoric.

Salt--Europe--History--To 1500.

Salt.

Salt industry and trade--Europe--History--To 1500.

Salt industry and trade.

Europe.

Genre:

Electronic book.

Electronic books.

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (162 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Leiden : Sidestone Press, ©2013.

Summary:

"Salt was a commodity of great importance in the ancient past, just as it is today. Its roles in promoting human health and in making food more palatable are well-known; in peasant societies it also plays a very important role in the preservation of foodstuffs and in a range of industries. Uncovering the evidence for the ancient production and use of salt has been a concern for historians over many years, but interest in the archaeology of salt has been a particular focus of research in recent times. This book charts the history of research on archaeological salt and traces the story of its production in Europe from earliest times down to the Iron Age. It presents the results of recent research, which has shown how much new evidence is now available from the different countries of Europe. The book considers new approaches to the archaeology of salt, including a GIS analysis of the oft-cited association between Bronze Age hoards and salt sources, and investigates the possibility of a new narrative of salt production in prehistoric Europe based on the role of salt in society, including issues of gender and the control of sources. The book is intended for both academics and the general reader interested in the prehistory of a fundamental but often under-appreciated commodity in the ancient past. It includes the results of the author's own research as well as an up-to-date survey of current work."--Page 4 of cover.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction

uses of salt

action of salt in the body

History of research

Conclusion

2. Salt: what it is, where and why it appears

What is salt?

Origin and occurrence of salt deposits

3. Production techniques through the ages

techniques

Ethnography

Written sources: classical antiquity, medieval and early modern

4. From earliest times to the Chalcolithic

Introduction

Salt up to the end of the Chalcolithic: conclusions

5. Bronze Age

Briquetage

Mines and quarries

trough technique

Bronze Age

summary

6. Iron Age: Austrian mines, French briquetage, English Red Hills and other sites

Lagoons and salt-pans: Greece and Rome

Mining and quarrying

Salt-boiling using briquetage

Iron Age: summary

7. development of salt working through European prehistory

salt zones of Europe

8. Salt as an economic resource

scale of production

movement of salt

Salt and metal

Salt as an economic resource: conclusion

9. Salt and society

Chaines operatoires

Cross-craft interaction

Commoditization/Commodification

Technological innovation

Salt and society

Gender aspects

Provisioning production sites

Towards a new narrative of salt production

10. Conclusions and prospects

Salt today

future of salt from the past.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Print version record.

Other Format:

Print version:

ISBN:

908890202X

9789088902024

1306395844

9781306395847

OCLC:

869588961

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.