SALT-MAKING IN MESOAMERICA: PRODUCTION SITES AND TOOL ASSEMBLAGES

Abstract

Abstract Common salt, or sodium chloride, has always been a strategic resource of primary importance throughout the world. In pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, salt was used primarily for human consumption, as the native diet had little chloride or sodium, two chemical components that are indispensable for human health and nutrition. Here I discuss the traditional salt industries of Michoacán, Colima, Guerrero, the Basin of Mexico and Puebla, paying special attention to the production sites and the tool assemblages linked to salt production in these areas of Mesoamerica. This article sheds light on salt's role in the culture and history of the ancient Mesoamerican ecumene through the lens of ethnoarchaeology and ethnohistory.