Salt and pastoralism in the Protohistory of the Veneto (original) (raw)
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IpoTESI di Preistoria, 2022
In this paper we outline a novel interdisciplinary field methodology that we will use in our research project `Salt and Power, Early States, Rome and Resource Control, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and based at the Groningen Institute of Archaeology. The aim of the project is to gain insight in ancient salt production on the Italian Tyrrhenian coast in the framework of early state formation in Etruria and Latium Vetus. Our approach employs geophysical, chemical and archaeological methods to study both the briquetage and saltern production modes in their specific environmental and geographical contexts.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 53 (2024), 2024
During the Copper Age and onwards, unique archaeological sites emerged throughout Europe. These sites exhibit distinct features such as the absence of typical household pottery, the presence of kilns, and extensive layers composed solely of fragments of reddish-brown jars. Scholars generally interpret these sites as specialized locations for salt production through the technique of boiling saltwater, known as briquetage. In Italy, many of these sites are found along the Tyrrhenian coast and span from the Middle Bronze Age to the Roman era, with a particular concentration during the early Iron Age. However, the archaeological evidence in Italy differs from that of other European sites, suggesting that these Italian sites were not solely dedicated to salt production but also involved other economic activities. To delve deeper into the understanding of these sites and their socioeconomic context, the University of Groningen initiated the Salt & Power: Early States, Rome and Resource Control project in 2021. The project aims to comprehensively analyze these sites and shed light on the production of salt within their broader societal and economic framework. In this contribution, we present preliminary findings derived from intensive surveys, coring campaigns, and geophysical investigations conducted at one such site, Piscina Torta. This site is believed to be connected to the city of Rome and dates back to the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Furthermore, we propose a multidisciplinary workflow for studying specialized sites, incorporating various research methodologies and disciplines.
Archaeology of Salt Works in Ancient Sardinia
The earliest evidence of salt works in ancient Sardinia is contained in the inscription found in San Nicolò Gerrei, inland from Cagliari, dating to the second century. B.C. The reference to Cleon the supervisor of the salt flats proves their existence, in Cagliari. The same salt flats are mentioned in another inscription (VI century AD.), which mention the guild involved in the work of salt flats. Beyond these direct evidence we have no archaeological remains to be carried forward with certainty to the salt flats, although the the spatial distribution of settlements can provide useful information on their existence. In this paper is discussed the area of modern salt flats of Capo Mannu (central-western coast of Sardinia), whose earliest documentation dates back to the Middle Ages, but the study of coastline transformations and of dynamics of occupation allow us to postulate their use probably since the late Neolithic age.
The prehistoric exploitation of salt in Europe
Geological Quarterly, 2014
The article considers the nature and extent of salt production in prehistoric Europe, in the light of recent field work. The biological needs of humans and animals are described, as this might have determined the extent to which ancient communities sought out salt if they did not have access to it locally. Three main zones of production, utilising solar evaporation, briquetage, and a technique involving wooden troughs, are described; deep mining seems only to have occurred in the Austrian Alps. Lastly consideration is given to the effects of salt production within and between communities, bearing in mind the widely expressed view that in prehistory richness in salt led to richness in other goods.
Production and Consumption of Salt in the Inland Tagus Valley in Prehistory (Spain)
Three different types of archaeological sites related to the production and consumption of salt in the inland Tagus valley have been identified: sites with the direct evidence of salt production, indirect evidence of its production through archaeological surveying and sites where analyses have identified the prehistoric consumption of salt in a domestic context. All together, they enable an up-dated assessment of the prehistoric use of salt in the inland Tagus valley as cyclical, domestic and inserted, like so many other productions, in the characteristic population patterns in the region.
2011
Table of Contents Foreword.......................................................................................................................................vii Welcoming Speech ......................................................................................................................... 1 Nicolae Ursulescu Part I. Ethnographic Approaches of Salt Salt Springs in Today’s Rural World. An Etnoarchaeological Approach in Moldavia (Romania) ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Marius Alexianu, Olivier Weller, Robin Brigand, Roxana-Gabriela Curcă, Vasile Cotiugă, Iulian Moga New Ethnoarchaeological Investigations upon the Salt Springs in Valea Muntelui, Romania........................................................................................................................................ 25 Dan Monah, Gheorghe Dumitroaia, Dorin Nicola Traditional Methods of Salt Mining in Buzău County, Romania in the 21st Century .......... 35 Doina Ciobanu El Salado-Ixtahuehue and Benito Juárez-Soconusco: an Ethno-Archaeological Study of Salt Pre-Industries of Southeast Veracruz, Mexico.............................................................. 37 Jorge A. Ceja Acosta The Saltmakers of Soconusco and Benito Juárez: An Interpretation of Ethnoarchaelogical Data from the Perspective of Gender and Identity................................. 49 María Luisa Martell Contreras Part II. Archaeological Salt Exploitation Provadia-Solnitsata (NE Bulgaria): A Salt-Producing Center of the 6th and 5th Millennia BC................................................................................................................................. 59 Vassil Nikolov Tell Provadia-Solnitsata (Bulgaria): Data on Chalcolithic Salt Extraction ........................... 65 Viktoria Petrova Spatial Analysis of Prehistoric Salt Exploitation in Eastern Carpathians (Romania).......... 69 Olivier Weller, Robin Brigand, Laure Nuninger, Gheorghe Dumitroaia The Cucuteni C Pottery near the Moldavian Salt Springs....................................................... 81 Roxana Munteanu, Daniel Garvăn Some Salt Sources in Transylvania and their Connections with the Archaeological Sites in the Area............................................................................................................................ 89 Gheorghe Lazarovici, Cornelia-Magda Lazarovici New Archaeological Researches concerning Saltworking in Transylvania. Preliminary Report.......................................................................................................................................... 111 Valeriu Cavruc, Anthony F. Harding The Beginning of the Salt Exploitation in Spain: Thinking about the Salt Exploitation in the Iberian Peninsula during Prehistoric Times................................................................. 123 Jesús Jiménez Guijarro Part III. Ancient Texts and Salt Salt in the Antiquity: a Quantification Essay.......................................................................... 137 Bernard Moinier Hypotheses, Considerations – and unknown Factors – regarding the Demand for Salt in Ancient Greece....................................................................................................................... 149 Cristina Carusi Historical Development of the ‘salinae’ in Ancient Rome: from Technical Aspects to Political and Socio-Economic Interpretations......................................................................... 155 Nuria Morère Molinero Salt in Tanning, Dyeing and Cleaning in Ancient Egypt ....................................................... 163 Virginie Delrue Part IV. Historical Approaches Salt Production in Mediterranean Andalusia in the Transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages ............................................................................................................... 171 Antonio Malpica Cuello Land Organisation and Salt Production in Region of the Salado River (Sigüenza, Province of Guadalajara, Spain): Ancient and Medieval Times. Results of the First Campaign 2008........................................................................................................................... 179 Antonio Malpica Cuello, Nuria Morère Molinero, Adela Fábregas García, Jesús Jiménez Guijarro Sea Salt and Land Salt. The Language of Salt and Technology Transfer (Portugal since the Second Half of the 18th Century) .............................................................................. 187 Inês Amorim A short Overview on the Main Salt Production in Italy from the End of the Middle Ages up to the Modern Period .................................................................................................. 197 Valdo D’Arienzo Part V. Linguistic and Philological Approaches ‘Salty’ Geographical Names: A Fresh Look............................................................................ 209 Alexander Falileyev Etymological and Historical Implications of Romanian Place-Names Referring to Salt.... 215 Adrian Poruciuc Salt in the Greek and Latin Aphoristic Phrase ....................................................................... 219 Mihaela Paraschiv Index of Authors......................................................................................................................... 225
PLOS ONE, 2019
In 2017, an excavation led by the Groningen Institute of Archaeology and in collaboration with the Tor Vergata University of Rome, took place on two small islands in the Caprolace lagoon (Sabaudia, Italy), where Middle Bronze Age layers had previously been reported. Combining the results of an environmental reconstruction of the surroundings and a detailed study of the pottery assemblages, we were able to trace a specialised area on the southern island, in all probability devoted to salt production by means of the briquetage technique. The latter basically consists of boiling a brine through which a salt cake is obtained. The technique was widespread all over Europe, from Neolithic to Roman Times. Since the evidence points to an elite-driven workshop, this result has deep implications for the development of the Bronze Age socioeconomic framework of Central Italy. Pottery evidence also suggests that in the Bronze Age sites along the Tyrrhenian coast of Central Italy where briquetage has already been hypothesised, more complex processes may have taken place. On the northern island, we collected a large number of so-called pedestals, which are characteristic features of briquetage, while chemical analyses point to salt or fish sauce production, like the roman liquamen, in a Middle Bronze Age domestic context.