This book explores the relationship between salt (sodium chloride) and the development of human societies from a cross-cultural and global perspective. Although it is not possible to discuss the importance of salt to all ancient and modern societies, the geographically and temporally diverse examples highlighted here are used to examine a series of related topics critical to understanding the economic, political, social, and religious impacts of salt through space and time. These topics in...

Case studies examining the archaeological record of an overlooked mineralSalt, once a highly prized trade commodity essential for human survival, is often overlooked in research because it is invisible in the archaeological record. Salt in Eastern North America and the Caribbean: History and Archaeology brings salt back into archaeology, showing that it was valued as a dietary additive, had curative powers, and was a substance of political power a...