Salt is essential to human health, especially in hot, humid climates like Eastern North America. As such it was an important commodity to Native Americans from the earliest settlement of the Americas, and it became even more important with the introduction of corn and other plant foods that lack natural salt. In historic times, it became important in processing hides as well as preserving fish and meat. Since salt does not readily survive in the archaeological record, it has been often ignored by archaeologists. Yet we do know that it was mined, processed, and refined in prehistoric times. It was traded over vast distances, and it had important spiritual qualities.
In this book, fourteen scholars contribute twelve essays on the use of salt in various regions and cultures. Geographically, they range from southern Alabama to Upstate New York, and from Tennessee to Jamaica. Temporally, they cover the early Paleo sites to historic salt industries. Though its lack of preservation in the archaeological record makes salt difficult to study, its ubiquitousness and importance to society demands that archaeologists focus on it. This informative volume addresses that demand.
