Contents
List of figures
List of tables
List of plates
Preface
Acknowledgments
General Background
The Physiological Basis for Salt Consumption
Salt and Saitmaking in Mesoamerica and the Valley of Mexico
The Scope of This Monograph
The Local Setting
The Organization of This Monograph
Synopsis of the Saltmaking Process
The SN Workshop
The Permanent Features
The Portable Contents
The IC Workshop
The Eastern Sub-Area
The Western Sub-Area
The Central Sub-Area
The Soils Used in Saltmaking: Types and Sources
Lakeshore Soils
Leached Workshop Soils
The Lakeshore Sources
Ash Deposits Used in Saltmaking
The SN Strategy: Combination of Truck and Cart
The IC Strategy: Exclusive Reliance on Burro Cart
Hauling Soil in the 1930s and 1940s
Storing Soils at the Workshop
The SN Workshop: Preparing the Sal Blanca Mixture
The IC Workshop: Preparing the Sal Blanca Mixture
The IC Workshop: Preparing the Sal Negra Mixture
Preparing a New Pila
Loading the Soil Mixture
The Leaching Process
Cleaning Out the Pila Pit
Boiling the Agua Salada: Sal Blanca
Boiling the Agua Salada: Sal Negra and Salitre
Drying the Salt: Sal Blanca
Drying the Salt: Sal Negra
Salitre Crystallization and Drying
The Present
Pre-1960s
The Present
Summary and Conclusions
Sources of Soil and Water
Recycling Soil
Expertise and Knowledge
Fuel Costs
The Uses of Salt
The Geochemistry of Tequesquite in and around Lake Texcoco
The Changing Needs for Salt during the First Posthispanic Century
The Triple Alliance Tribute
Eye-Witness Accounts from the Valley of Mexico
Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, The Florentine Codex
The Relaciones Geograficas
Other Sixteenth-Century Accounts
The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
The Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 4: SaItmaking in Mesoamerica outside the Valley of Mexico, 1500-1920
Marine Coastal Lagoons
Inland Salt Springs
Inland Salt Lakes
Summary and Conclusions
Minimalist Salt-Harvesting Techniques
Transport, Boiling, and Storage in the Workshop
Preparation of Salt "Gardens"
Solar Evaporation
Brine Boiling
Fuel Problems
Leaching Devices and Procedures
Making Different Types of Salt
Packaging, Storing, and Transporting Finished Salt
Rainy Season Saltmaking
Leaching the Ashes of Salt-Rich Plants
Collecting Precipitated Salt from Salt-Rich Plants
Quantitative Input-Output Data
The Complementarity of Saltmaking and Agriculture
The Association between Saltmaking and Pottery Making
The Scale and Organization of Traditional Saltmaking
The Sociopolitical Implications of Salt Production, Distribution, and Consumption
Overall Conclusions
Chapter 6: The Association between Saltmaking and Textile Dyeing
The Preparation of Mordant Ash and Brine in West Africa
The Use of Salt and Tequesquite in Traditional Mexican Cloth Dyeing
Summary and Conclusions
The Significance of Fabric-Marked Pottery
Pre-Middle Postclassic Saltmaking in the Valley of Mexico
Summary and Conclusions
Location and Appearance of Saltmaking Sites
Non-Movable Ceramic and Masonry Containers
Ceramic Assemblages
Changes in Saltmaking over Time
Summary and Conclusions
North America
South America
Europe
Briquetage and "Red Hill" Sites
A Reconstruction of Saltmaking at Briquetage Sites
The Seasonality and Specialization of Iron Age Saltmaking at Briquetage Sites
Changes in European Saltmaking during the Later Iron Age
Technological and Organizational Changes in Saltmaking during Roman and Post-Roman Times
Africa
Asia
Overall Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 8: Conclusions
The Use of Brine for Flavoring and Cooking Foods
The Use of Plant Ash vs. Crystalline Salt
Harvesting Natural Tequesquite during the Dry Season
Simple Solar Evaporation: Replicating and Extending Nature
Intensified Solar Evaporation
The Infrastructure of Saltmaking
The Geopolitics of Salt
Stage 2: The Early Terminal Formative, ca. 250-50 B.C.
Stage 5: The Middle and Late Postclassic, ca. A.D. 1100-1520
Future Research Directions
Epilogue: Saltmaking at Nexquipayac in 1998
Glossary
Bibliography
