About the Book
Mirrors of Salt publishes the proceedings of the First International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt, which took place at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi (Romania). The impact of salt on the development of human communities, from the Neolithic to the present, has generated a huge number of specialized studies. However, scientific research has become so atomized that the primordial importance of the mineral has been lost, creating a need for a holistic, comprehensive vision of the dimensions generated by salt. This can only be achieved through anthropology. The anthropology of salt encompasses the entirety of human behavior, i.e. cognitive, spiritual, pragmatic, and social reactions to salt, and provides a holistic view of its role in the evolution of human communities. The anthropology of salt thus brings salt studies from an ancillary position to an autonomous discipline. The papers in this volume are organized into six sections: theory, archaeology, history, ethnography/ ethnoarchaeology/ethnohistory, linguistics, and literature. Topics include salt in Greek and Roman antiquity, as well as from Cameroon, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria, Peru, Romania, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, the USA and Venezuela. The congress was organized within the project The Ethnoarchaeology of the Salt Springs and Salt Mountains from the Extra-Carpathian Areas of Romania, financed by the Government of Romania (CNCS – UEFISCDI) (2011-2016). Its theoretical novelty and geographical range render Mirrors of Salt a unique study of the world’s most-used non-metallic mineral.
Table of Contents:
Foreword – Marius Alexianu ;
Theoretical Approaches
Salt: Anthropology of a Quasi Amethodic Topic. Some Thoughts – Marius Alexianu
The ‘Sapientia’ of Salt – Michele Zuppi, Paolo Zuppi, Elisabetta Rossi
Archaeology
The Qraya Salt Experiment. Reenacting Salt Production Processes of Protohistoric Mesopotamia – Beatrice Hopkinson, Giorgio Buccellati
Research on the use of Hallstatt’s stone axes: Study of mechanics – Alfons Fíguls, Kerstin Kowarik, Hans Reschreiter
Considerations on Salt Exploitation in Bukovina, from Prehistory to Modern Times – Mugur Andronic, Bogdan P. Niculică
Unique Cucuteni Artefacts Used in the Salt Recrystallization Process – Constantin Preoteasa
The Exploitation and Control of Salt Sources from the Early Neolithic to Late Antiquity. Case study: Oglinzi - Băi area (Neamț County, Romania) – Vasile Diaconu, Gheorghe Dumitroaia(†)
A Tiny Story About Salt, Herding and Landscape in Chalcolithic and Late Bronze Age Eastern Romania – Neculai Bolohan, Luminița Bejenaru
A Technological Approach to the Production Sequence at the Beaker Brine-Boiling Site of Molino Sanchón II (Villafáfila, Zamora, Spain): Some Hypotheses about the Moulding of Salt using Organic Containers – Elisa Guerra-Doce, Francisco Javier Abarquero-Moras, Germán Delibes-de Castro
Assessing the Role of Salt in the Spread of the Beaker Phenomenon across Western Europe during the Third Millennium BC – Elisa Guerra-Doce
‘Reddish olle’ and Production and Use of Salt: an Open Question – Tomaso Di Fraia
Salt in Southwest Germany at the End of the Iron Age – Martin Hees
Salt Control and Distribution in the Southern Part of Eastern Carpathians. A Story of a Lost Dacian Hillfort – Dan Ștefan, Bogdan Ciupercă
Geophysical Prospections in the Area of the Salt Mine at Sânpaul – Alexandru Popa
Salt Production as a Reflection of Inter-Ethnic Contact and Culture Change during Late Prehistory (AD 800-1100) in South Alabama, United States – Ashley A. Dumas
Recent Archaeology of Salt in Southeastern North America – Ashley A. Dumas
Towards an Archaeology of Salt Production in Ireland – Wes Forsythe, Rosemary McConkey, Colin Breen
The Vall Salina: More than 6500 years of Halite Exploitation. Cardona, the Salt of History – Alfons Fíguls, Olivier Weller, Thomas Xaver Schuhmacher, Mireia Martínez, Raül Segarra, Rosa M. Lanaspa, Marc Cots, Aitor Henestrosa
Where the Salt ‘Kerns’: Historical Archaeological Investigations at the Saltpans of the Venezuelan Islands, 17th–19th Century – Konrad A. Antczak
History
Salt Outlets: Which Statistical Profiles in the Roman Empire? – Bernard M. Moinier
Underground Waters as a Source of Salt: Reflections on the Technological Variations of their Use in the South of Mexico – Blas R. Castellón Huerta
Salt ‘Roads’ in Moldavia by the 18th Century: Production, Transportation and Consumption – Mihai-Cristian Amăriuţei, Ludmila Bacumenco-Pîrnău, Luminița Bejenaru
A Less Known Practice: Making Salt Cakes in Wooden Vessels. The Testimony of a Foreign Traveller to Moldavia – Vasile Diaconu, Roxana Diaconu
Organization and Functioning of the Salt Extracting Industry in Bessarabia (1812-1850) – Andrei Emilciuc
From Blessing to Punishment: The Salt Issue within the Romanian Landscape in the 19th Century as Seen by Foreign Travellers – Mircea-Cristian Ghenghea
Use of Salt in the Christian Church of Late Antiquity: Literary and Archaeological Evidence – Ioan Iaţcu
The First Systematic Research on the Salt Springs of Bukovina: an Austrian Report from 1783 – Vasile Diacon
Ethnography, Ethnoarchaeology, Ethnohistory
Anthropological Studies of Salt in Mexico in the Last 20 Years: An Overview – Blas R. Castellón Huerta
Huixtocíhuatl. Goddess of Salt – Martha Monzón Flores
Making Salt in Maras (Cusco, Peru): Traditional Salt Production Systems in the Context of Heritage Economy – Oriol Beltran
Salt: a Crucial Feature of Mongolian Nomadism Success – Francesca Lugli
The Role of the Oasis of Selima (Sudan) in the Long Distance Trade of Salty Rocks in the Sudanese Western Desert in the 19th and 20th Centuries – Franck Derrien, Coralie Gradel
Usage of Salt in Therapy and as a Magical Cure among Mongolian Ethnic Groups – Dulam Sendenjav
Salt in Georgia – Manana Odisheli
Salt, History and Culture in the Western Grasslands of Cameroon – Henry Kam Kah
Unity of Sacred and Profane in the Traditional Salt Industry of the Okposi Igbo of South-Eastern Nigeria – Peter-Jazzy Ezeh
Salt in the Traditions of the Romanians. Notes for the Intangible Heritage in Dâmbovița County – Ana Ilie
Traditional Use of Natural Brine. Ethnoarchaeological Research in the Subcarpathian Area of Romania – Felix-Adrian Tencariu, Andrei Asăndulesei, Marius Alexianu
Salt Symbolism in the Work of Elena Niculiță-Voronca – Mihaela Asăndulesei
Ukrainian Traditional Salt Traders (‘Chumaks’) in the North of the Sea of Azov (Case Study of Berdyansk Area) – Igor Lyman, Victoria Konstantinova
Linguistics
Germanic Lexical Evidence that Clarifies the Multiple Meanings of the Old European Root *sal- – Adrian Poruciuc, Norbert Poruciuc
Imagery of Salt in Romanian Phraseology. Cultural Aspects (Romania) – Petronela Savin
The Morphosyntax of Salt-Related Words, Idioms, Similes and Proverbs in English and Romanian – Ileana Oana Macari
Morphonyms Related to ‘Slatină’ and ‘Slătioară’ in Eastern Romania – Mihaela Asăndulesei
The Biography of the Romanian Expression a făgădui marea cu sarea (Romania) – Petronela Savin
Literature
Black Sea Salinity as a Reflection of Environmental and Climate Conditions in Ovid’s Poems During the Exile Period in Tomis (SE Romania) – Roxana-Gabriela Curcă, Alin Mihu-Pintilie
Salt in Ancient Opsartytikón Literature – Mihaela Paraschiv
Latin Testimonies on the Exploitation of Salt in 17th–18th Century Moldavia – Claudia Tărnăuceanu
About the Author :
Marius Alexianu is Senior researcher at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. His research interests encompass ethnoarchaeology and the anthropology of salt. He has published the first study on the concept of the anthropology of salt and is the author of the book chapter Ethnoarchaeology of Salt in Romania, published in the Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, edited by Claire Smith (2nd ed. 2020). Roxana-Gabriela Curca is Associate Professor at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. She specializes in ancient history, Classical philology and the ethnography of salt. She has published on the correlation between ancient Greek/Latin texts and current practices in Moldova in the field of halotherapy. Olivier Weller is a researcher at the CNRS (UMR 8215 Trajectoires, CNRS-Universite Pantheon-Sorbonne, Paris, France). His research concerns the archaeology of salt and the origins of its production in Europe, from the Neolithic period onwards, through exploitation techniques, uses and socio-economic issues. The approaches developed are technological (ceramics), ethnoarchaeological, paleoenvironmental, physicochemical and geomatic. His studies have been developed from Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, Moldavia, Bulgaria) to Oceania (New Guinea, Tonga). He is currently director of the Trajectories laboratory (2019-2024). Ashley A. Dumas is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of West Alabama. She is a specialist in the late precolonial period of the Southeastern USA. She is the editor, with Paul N. Eubanks of Salt in Eastern North America and the Caribbean: History and Archaeology (2021). Marius Alexianu is Senior researcher at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. His research interests encompass ethnoarchaeology and the anthropology of salt. He has published the first study on the concept of the anthropology of salt and is the author of the book chapter Ethnoarchaeology of Salt in Romania, published in the Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, edited by Claire Smith (2nd ed. 2020). Roxana-Gabriela Curca is Associate Professor at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. She specializes in ancient history, Classical philology and the ethnography of salt. She has published on the correlation between ancient Greek/Latin texts and current practices in Moldova in the field of halotherapy. Olivier Weller is a researcher at the CNRS (UMR 8215 Trajectoires, CNRS-Universite Pantheon-Sorbonne, Paris, France). His research concerns the archaeology of salt and the origins of its production in Europe, from the Neolithic period onwards, through exploitation techniques, uses and socio-economic issues. The approaches developed are technological (ceramics), ethnoarchaeological, paleoenvironmental, physicochemical and geomatic. His studies have been developed from Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, Moldavia, Bulgaria) to Oceania (New Guinea, Tonga). He is currently director of the Trajectories laboratory (2019-2024). Ashley A. Dumas is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of West Alabama. She is a specialist in the late precolonial period of the Southeastern USA. She is the editor, with Paul N. Eubanks of Salt in Eastern North America and the Caribbean: History and Archaeology (2021). Marius Alexianu is Senior researcher at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. His research interests encompass ethnoarchaeology and the anthropology of salt. He has published the first study on the concept of the anthropology of salt and is the author of the book chapter Ethnoarchaeology of Salt in Romania, published in the Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, edited by Claire Smith (2nd ed. 2020). Roxana-Gabriela Curca is Associate Professor at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. She specializes in ancient history, Classical philology and the ethnography of salt. She has published on the correlation between ancient Greek/Latin texts and current practices in Moldova in the field of halotherapy. Olivier Weller is a researcher at the CNRS (UMR 8215 Trajectoires, CNRS-Universite Pantheon-Sorbonne, Paris, France). His research concerns the archaeology of salt and the origins of its production in Europe, from the Neolithic period onwards, through exploitation techniques, uses and socio-economic issues. The approaches developed are technological (ceramics), ethnoarchaeological, paleoenvironmental, physicochemical and geomatic. His studies have been developed from Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, Moldavia, Bulgaria) to Oceania (New Guinea, Tonga). He is currently director of the Trajectories laboratory (2019-2024). Ashley A. Dumas is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of West Alabama. She is a specialist in the late precolonial period of the Southeastern USA. She is the editor, with Paul N. Eubanks of Salt in Eastern North America and the Caribbean: History and Archaeology (2021). Marius Alexianu is Senior researcher at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. His research interests encompass ethnoarchaeology and the anthropology of salt. He has published the first study on the concept of the anthropology of salt and is the author of the book chapter Ethnoarchaeology of Salt in Romania, published in the Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, edited by Claire Smith (2nd ed. 2020). Roxana-Gabriela Curca is Associate Professor at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania. She specializes in ancient history, Classical philology and the ethnography of salt. She has published on the correlation between ancient Greek/Latin texts and current practices in Moldova in the field of halotherapy. Olivier Weller is a researcher at the CNRS (UMR 8215 Trajectoires, CNRS-Universite Pantheon-Sorbonne, Paris, France). His research concerns the archaeology of salt and the origins of its production in Europe, from the Neolithic period onwards, through exploitation techniques, uses and socio-economic issues. The approaches developed are technological (ceramics), ethnoarchaeological, paleoenvironmental, physicochemical and geomatic. His studies have been developed from Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Romania, Moldavia, Bulgaria) to Oceania (New Guinea, Tonga). He is currently director of the Trajectories laboratory (2019-2024). Ashley A. Dumas is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of West Alabama. She is a specialist in the late precolonial period of the Southeastern USA. She is the editor, with Paul N. Eubanks of Salt in Eastern North America and the Caribbean: History and Archaeology (2021).
