Natural Science in Archaeology

10.3 Salt (Halite) 227
Fig. 10.2 Distribution of
major Mayan salt sources.
(After Andrews 1983)
Nevada; a third at the Zuni Salt Lake; and a fourth at a salt spring in the canyon of
the Little Colorado River, which was used by the Hopi. The Arizona deposit occurs
in the Tertiary Verde Formation, where ancient tunnels were driven into hillsides
to locate the best salt strata in the formation. At St. Thomas, Nevada, the salt was
recovered from caverns. Marine rock salt sourced to the Sevier Valley of central
Utah, USA, was used as a trade item by native peoples who exported it to sites near
Mesa Verde between 950 and 1200 CE (Baldwin 1976).
Salt deposits can form from the hot brines of hot springs. Since early in the first
millennium, humans have utilized salt from brines and brine deposits emanating
from the East African Rift system. Of special note are the deposits at Bunyoro on
the eastern shore of what is now called Lake Albert. In West Africa, solar evaporation
of salt may have been utilized on the shores of Lake Chad and at coastal sites.
After camels became used as beasts of burden, inland resources such as the rock
salt deposits of Mauritania, southern Algeria, and northern Mali were also exploited
(Alexander 1995).
Salt in China has been considered an economic good and a state monopoly at
least since the seventh century BCE (Chiang 1975). Easily accessible salt deposits
are widespread in China, occurring in all but three provinces. Much of the salt was
extracted from the sea, although there were many major inland production centers
some based on salt lakes, others on brine pumped from deep wells, at least during