中美洲制盐

Ancient Mesoamerica, 34 (2023), 1–23
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

doi:10.1017/S0956536121000031
SALT-MAKING IN MESOAMERICA: PRODUCTION

SITES AND TOOL ASSEMBLAGES
Eduardo Williams
Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos, El Colegio de Michoacán, Martínez de Navarrete 505, Zamora de Hidalgo, CP 59699 Michoacán,
Mexico
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.
INTRODUCTION Lubbock, one of the pioneers of British archaeology, first used

this term in 1865 to describe animal remains found in stratigraphic
Common salt, or sodium chloride, has always been a strategic
cave deposits. Later, Childe (1956) used the same word as a special-
resource of primary importance throughout the world. In
ized term for the distinctive materials enclosed in a specific layer of
pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, salt was used mainly for human con-
the stratigraphic sequence (Joyce and Pollard 2010:294–295).
sumption, as the native diet (consisting mainly of plants such as
A decade after Childe, Clarke (1968:35) wrote that “most
maize, beans, chili peppers, squash, and so on) had little chloride
archaeological entities consist of clusters or aggregates of entities
or sodium (Williams 2010). Worldwide, once people began cultivat-
of lower taxonomic rank … culture groups are clusters of cultures,
ing crops, they began looking for salt to add to their diets
cultures are clusters of assemblages, assemblages are clusters of
(Kurlansky 2002). Diamond (2012:415) has stated that “today,
types, types are clusters of traits. To the archeologist the process
salt comes from a salt-shaker on every dining table and ultimately
of grouping objects into ‘sensible’ groups, clusters, or sequences
from a supermarket, is cheap, and is available in essentially unlim-
has been a normal activity for decades.” According to Clarke
ited quantities.” However, in the past, “salt didn’t come from salt-
(1968:245, italics in the original), “archaeological usage has estab-
shakers but had somehow to be extracted from the environment
lished an … assemblage as an associated set of contemporary
… most farmers had a daily salt intake below three grams …
artifact-types. The important aspects of an artefact assemblage …
hence traditional peoples crave salt and go to great lengths to
are that the artefacts may belong to more than one type and that
obtain it.” In the pre-industrial world, sodium chloride had several
they occur together in definite contemporary association with one
other important uses, apart from its role in the diet, particularly as
another.” However, “the occurrence of several artefact-types of
a preservative of animal flesh, as a mordant for fixing textile
uncertain chronology, within the same limited geographical area,
dyes, as a medium of exchange, and as a principle component in
does not constitute an assemblage in the sense defined here but
the preparation of soaps and other cleansing agents (Parsons
rather constitutes an ‘aggregate’ of lesser significance and informa-
1994). The flow of strategic and scarce goods (including salt)
tion value” (Clarke 1968:245). Clarke ends his discussion by stating
throughout Mesoamerica depended on widespread lines of commu-
that “an archaeological culture is expressed by a set of specific
nication and trade routes that were critical aspects of the economic
artefact-types and represented by a group of assemblages containing
and social life of most Mesoamerican polities (Figure 1). What
some of those artefact-types” (Clarke 1968:246).
follows is a brief discussion of several key aspects of this essential
According to Beck (2018:2), the components of an assemblage
mineral, based on archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic
“include both tangible and intangible as well as human and non-
sources.
human elements … the assemblage is not reducible to its compo-
First, I consider the concept of assemblage as it relates to salt
nents, as the interaction and relations between the components are
production. The word assemblage refers to “a group of artifacts
also giving the assemblage some specific properties of its own.”
recurring together at a particular time and place, and representing
As we know from ethnoarchaeology, “an assemblage is never a
the sum of human activities” (Renfrew and Bahn 2000:565). The
static phenomenon but in a constant process of being assembled,
assemblage concept is quite old in archaeological parlance. John
re-assembled, and de-assembled … As such the perspective from
assemblage theory automatically gives a strong focus on the
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected] ongoing dynamics creating and recreating the assemblage and
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

2 Williams
Figure 1. Map showing particularly important salt-producing sites in western and central regions of Mesoamerica. Map by author.
therefore also on the inherent temporalities of the assemblage rather and below a kind of sieve made with small sticks. The bottom of
than its static being” (Beck 2018:2). Obviously, archaeological the estiladera rests atop a thick wooden plank, placed on a trough-
assemblages do not appear in a vacuum. They are usually found shaped basin made of a hollowed-out log, into which the brine falls.
in sites that preserve evidence from the ancient past, as discussed Terreros are mounds around the estiladera, produced by the accu-
below. mulation of earth that is discarded after leaching. These can be recy-
cled and used in future salt-making operations.
A finca usually has several wooden troughs (hollowed-out tree
SALT-MAKING SITES AND TECHNIQUES IN
trunks) called canoas (Figure 3), measuring 6–10 m long, where
MESOAMERICA
the brine is collected after filtering in the estiladera, so it can be
Salt-making sites and tool assemblages are analyzed in the follow- evaporated by the sun. Formerly, large tree trunks were brought
ing sections, where I present a summary discussion of the traditional down from the hills by oxen in order to make the canoas, but
salt industries in Michoacán, Colima, Guerrero, the Basin of those wooden canoas are now being replaced by cement troughs
Mexico, and Puebla, from the perspective of ethnoarchaeology because large trees are rare in the area. In addition to these features,
and ethnohistory. each finca has an area of some 400 m2 where salt-bearing soils are
excavated and mixed. There is a network of canals that bring water
from the springs to the fincas (Figure 4). These canals are 50–80 cm
The Lake Cuitzeo Basin, Michoacán
deep and several meters long. In some cases, the water from the
The Lake Cuitzeo Basin has natural salt deposits and thermal springs has “fossilized” the canals on account of its high mineral
springs with a high mineral content that have been used for salt- content, thus producing enduring material evidence of salt
making for centuries. This basin was a key economic area in production.
ancient times, thanks to its salt and obsidian deposits, as well as The tools employed by salt-makers are relatively simple: shovels
abundant aquatic resources (see discussion in Williams 2015). and hoes for removing the soil, wheelbarrows for moving soil from
The towns of Araró and Simirao on the eastern margin of Lake one place to another within the finca, and buckets for moving and
Cuitzeo have been renowned for their high-quality salt since the six- storing water and brine. The tools used in the past included a sack
teenth century (Escobar 1998). This is a geologically active basin made of ixtle fiber (Agave sp.) called guangoche, used to transport
whose subterranean water deposits have a rich mineral content earth (Figure 5), and clay vessels known as chondas for moving and
and are used in the salt-making process (Williams 1999, 2015, storing water and brine. Until recent years, chondas were made in
2018). the barrio de alfareros or potter’s quarter in Zinapécuaro, the
A salt production unit in Simirao is known as a finca, and con- main town in the Lake Cuitzeo Basin (Figure 6).
sists of two or more estiladeras, which are wooden structures used The salt-making process in the study area can be divided into
as filters for leaching the salt from the earth. An estiladera is four sequential stages: (1) earth is extracted, prepared and mixed;
roughly 1.5–2.0 m high (Figure 2). Inside there is a layer of earth (2) salt is obtained by leaching the earth in the estiladera with
near the top, then a layer of two kinds of grass (fine and rough), water from local springs; (3) the brine is evaporated in the canoas

Salt‐Making in Mesoamerica 3
Figure 2. The leached soil is thrown to the sides of the estiladera, where it accumulates over time, forming the terrero or mound.
Photograph by the author.
and the crystallized salt is gathered; and (4) the final product is ground of the finca and sprinkled with spring water. It is left there
packed and sold. for a day or two and then used again once it has been mixed with
There are two types of earth used in the salt-making process: tierra picada. The latter is extracted with shovels or hoes from the
tierra tirada (thrown earth) and tierra picada (pecked earth), both upper layer of soil. One can see several small heaps of tierra
of which are found in the fincas. Tierra tirada is recycled from pre- picada and large mounds of tierra tirada inside every finca.
vious salt-making operations. Once the earth’s salt content is dimin- Because the estiladeras are made of wood, they do not last for
ished by leaching, it is taken out of the estiladera and heaped on the long periods of time. Instead, what we would expect to find at a
terrero, or mound of leached soil. After a while, earth builds up and pre-Hispanic saltworks as evidence of the leaching process would
is carried away by shovel and wheelbarrow to be spread over the be wells used to obtain salt-rich water, canals, and the stone
Figure 3. A finca usually has several canoas to evaporate brine under the sun. In some cases, a canoa may be up to 150 years old.
Photograph by the author.

4 Williams
Figure 4. At Simirao there is a network of canals linking nearby springs to the saltworks. A constant flow of mineral-rich water from
the thermal springs is essential for salt production. Photograph by the author.
foundations upon which the canoas, estiladeras, and other features working communities in Mexico that still used traditional (in part,
may have rested. Abandoned terreros, meanwhile, are the most pre-Hispanic) techniques at the time of my visit (Williams 2002,
visible indicator of salt-making operations in the study area 2010, 2015).
(Williams 2015:Figure 57), and in many other regions of The saltworks at La Placita have been abandoned since my field-
Mesoamerica (Noguera 1975; Sanders et al. 1979). work there. The ecological conditions of this area—that is, the
coastal strip that stretches from Cuyutlán (Colima) in the north to
Maruata (Michoacán) in the south—are ideal for salt production,
The Coast of Michoacán
as sodium chloride is an abundant ingredient of seawater, and sun-
In 2000, I conducted ethnoarchaeological fieldwork around the light, an essential requirement for evaporating brine, is constant and
town of La Placita on the coast of Michoacán, one of the few salt-
Figure 5. This sack made of ixtle fiber was used to gather soil for salt-making at Simirao. Photograph by the author.

to say, “this kind of labor is too hard” for women, who came
only to collect the salt, receiving part of the production as
payment. Most of these women were related to the salineros by
blood, marriage, or ritual kinship.
The leaching process was carried out in the aforementioned
tapeixtle, a flat platform made of branches supported by tree
trunks. The upper part of the tapeixtle was called cajete, the
bottom part taza, and together they were known as a pozo. The
cajete was made out of mud (from the soil that was discarded
after leaching) and was formed by a ring made with branches and
banana tree leaves, known as a ñagual. The filtering device included
several layers of grass, small stones, and sand.
Each era was filled with 20 buckets of brine (one bucket holds
20 liters); subsequently, two or three buckets a day were added to
the era, and after five days it was possible to collect the first
batch of salt. Thereafter, salt was collected every other day, on
average 25–30 kg each time. Each plan, or salt-making unit, pro-
duced seven tons of salt on average during the season, if the
weather conditions were good.
To evenly spread the sand mixed with lime on the era, the sal-
ineros used a small wooden slat (about 20 cm long) called a
paleta (Figure 9a). After spreading the sand-lime mixture, another
wooden tool called a menapil was used to smooth the surface of
the era (Figure 9b). Finally, the salineros polished the surface of
the era with a river cobble (Figure 9c). A clay pot was used to trans-
port and store water and brine (Figure 9d). The salitre was excavated
from the comederos—that is, the areas of the beach adjoining the
estuary with the highest level of soil salinity. Before extracting the
salitre with a shovel (Figure 9e), the ground was prepared by
raking it with the gata, a wooden instrument with iron spikes that
was dragged by a horse to loosen the soil and allow the salineros
to easily make small heaps of salitre. This salty earth was carried
on horseback from the beach to the tapeixtles, though in olden
days the salineros carried the baskets of salitre on their heads.
Figure 6. The clay pots used by salt-makers in the Lake Cuitzeo Basin into
After these operations were completed, the workers carried salty
the mid-twentieth century were made by potters in Zinapécuaro, the main
water in buckets from the estuary to the cajete; later, brine was
town in the basin. Photograph by the author.
taken from the taza under the tapeixtle to the eras. In the past,
they used balsas for this, or vessels made of gourds that the sali-
intense through almost the entire year, especially during the dry neros themselves planted, but clay pots have been used since
season (October to May). pre-Hispanic times (Figure 10). A trade network once existed
The salt-making process at La Placita traditionally consisted of whereby artisans who made baskets and pots, among many other
filtering salty water from the nearby estuary or lagoon through a articles, would come to the salt-producing villages and exchange
layer of salty earth locally called salitre, which is obtained from their goods for salt.
the beach around the estuary and was used to produce salt by leach- The leached soil, meanwhile, was removed from the tapeixtle
ing in a tapeixtle, a filtering device discussed below (Figure 7). and heaped on top of the terrero, where it accumulated in large
Once the brine was obtained by leaching the earth, it was poured mounds (Figure 11). Eventually, this soil was withdrawn by
into solar evaporation pans called eras, where the water disappeared shovel and spread over the comederos. After a few days, the recy-
under the hot sun, leaving crystallized salt (Figure 8). Once salt had cled soil once again became rich in salt and could be used anew.
dried, it was packed and taken away to be sold or exchanged for The salineros had to work constantly to harvest the crystallized
other commodities. The salt-making unit here is called a plan. It salt and ensure that the eras were full of brine at all times.
covers an extension of 400–600 m2 and consists of a tapeixtle, In ancient times, the coast of Western Mexico was very impor-
several eras, and at least one terrero. tant as a provider of salt to inland populations. Numerous salt-
The salt-making season in the coastal area of Michoacán and making sites have been discovered along the coast in Sinaloa,
Colima occupied the driest part of the year (roughly early April to Jalisco, Colima (Weigand and Weigand 1997:5–8), and Nayarit
mid-May), because the fresh water that falls during the rainy (Mountjoy 2000:102–103). From pre-Hispanic times until some
season drastically reduces the level of salinity in the estuary and 60 years ago, the stretch of the coast of Michoacán and Colima
the soil around it, while the greater cloud cover reduces the sunlight from Cuyutlán in the north to Maruata in the south was a veritable
required to evaporate the brine. Salt-makers carried out other activ- salt emporium, with countless sites, large and small, where salt was
ities when salt-making was not possible, such as fishing, agriculture produced. Three types of sites were found during my survey of the
or wage labor, either within the area or outside it. Traditionally, it coast of Michoacán: (1) locales where salt was produced until
was the men who worked in the saltworks because, as they used around 2010 (the pre-Hispanic materials found at most of these

6 Williams
Figure 7. Building a tapeixtle to filter salty water was a laborious process involving several men. Photograph by the author.
sites attest to their occupation in ancient times); (2) places where salt there are many salt-making sites, with the remains of eras, tapeix-
production was carried out until perhaps 60 years ago, but are now tles, and terreros that have been abandoned for the past 70 years
abandoned (at most of these sites, pre-Hispanic material is found on or so.
the surface); and (3) sites where salt may have been produced in Because salt is rarely preserved in the archaeological record,
ancient times, some of which appear to be both habitation and pro- unlike other strategic resources that were produced and exchanged
duction sites. among the indigenous peoples in the coastal area of Michoacán—
After talking with informants and checking material evidence on obsidian, shells, metals, turquoise, and many other items—identifying
the ground, we identified 16 abandoned salt-producing sites near La archaeological sites where salt was produced, stored or traded
Placita, but the total was probably much higher in pre-Hispanic presents certain difficulties. However, in light of the ethnographic
times. Around all the estuaries along this portion of the coast and ethnohistorical information discussed above, we can postulate

Figure 8. The crystallized salt was removed from the eras (background) and thrown on the ground to complete the drying process
under the sun’s rays. Photograph by the author.
the existence of several kinds of material evidence that serve as figures reported by informants for the pre-1950 period, the coast
markers of salt production at specific sites. The main indicators as a whole must have produced hundreds of tons of salt.
(or archaeological markers) of salt production using traditional tech- However, during the 2000 field season, only four salineros were
niques (some of clear pre-Hispanic origin) in the areas under discus- working at La Placita. The author stated in the original report
sion are presented in Table 1. They include mounds of discarded (Williams 2003) that “the techniques, tools and features reported
soil, or terreros; abandoned solar evaporation pans, or eras in these pages will probably disappear from La Placita as the old sal-
(Figure 11); and specialized pottery types associated with salt pro- ineros retire or die and all their knowledge and traditions are forgot-
duction sites. ten.” Alas, this prediction has been fulfilled: the saltworks studied
The northwest coast of Michoacán and adjoining areas of coastal by the author almost 20 years ago now stand vacant and the salt-
Colima produced great amounts of salt. Based on the production making tools of old are all but forgotten.

8 Williams
Figure 9. Part of the salt-making assemblage formerly used at La Placita and other coastal sites: (a) paleta; (b) menapil; (c) polishing
stones; (d) pot; (e) shovel. (a–c, e) La Placita, photographs by Teddy Williams; (d) Maruata, photograph by the author.
The Coast of Colima

North of the coast of Michoacán discussed above lies the present-
day state of Colima. The coast of Colima is one of the most
notable salt-producing regions in Mesoamerica, with the town of
Cuyutlán serving as the epicenter of salt manufacture and trade
since the colonial period, though it was likely active from much
earlier times (Weigand and Weigand 1997).
Nowadays, salt production in Cuyutlán is based on the solar
evaporation technique, carried out in great evaporation pans, or
eras, densely distributed around pits. Instead of the lime coating
used in the past, the pans are now covered by huge plastic sheets
in the saltworks at Cuyutlán, where rubber hoses are used to take
the brine to the eras, and the salt water is extracted using gasoline-
powered pumps. Traditional indigenous production seems to have
been carried out in a similar way, except that the pans were less
regular and water was conveyed by means of canals, wells, and
shallow ditches. In some cases, the remains of ancient ditches can
still be seen, but conclusive identification of ancient solar evapora-
tion pans is problematic (Weigand and Weigand 1997:7–8).
Salt was the most important product for the economy of Colima
from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. The economic role of
salt production in this region was considerable, since Indians,
Creoles, and Spaniards alike paid salt as tribute to the Crown, and
the guilds also paid their tithes in salt. The guilds sometimes
owned saltworks that had been bequeathed to them in wills
(Reyes and Leytón 1992).
Although the saltworks are near the sea, salt is not taken directly
from sea water; rather, it is extracted from the deposits left when the
sea retreats from the estuaries and lagoons that are connected to it
during the rainy season. The same techniques described for colonial
Michoacán (Williams 2015:95–101) may have been used during the
pre-Hispanic period up to the mid-sixteenth century in Colima as
Figure 10. Potter working in her household workshop at Maruata, on the well. The first description of these techniques—which have pre-
coast of Michoacán. Photograph by the author. vailed with only minor modifications right up to the present—

Figure 11. In the abandoned salt-making sites of La Placita, one can still see the remains of eras, or salt evaporation pans, and mounds of
leached earth, called terreros. Photograph by Teddy Williams.
comes from the eighteenth century. The way to make a pozo or salt- evaporated the brine and the end result was crystallized salt
making unit was first to form a basin or tank, place a tapestle—a (Reyes and Leytón 1992).
variant of the term tapeixtle—on top of it, and then fill the tapestle The pozo is the most important feature used in this salt-making
with salty earth. Salt water was poured on top of the earth to distill it process since all activities are performed in or around it. It consists
and transform it into brine, which was then transferred into the lime- of the filtering device and the basin where brine is stored.
covered evaporation pans. After a while, the heat of the sun Rectangular in form, it features two levels, measuring roughly 5 m
Table 1. Summary of tools, features, and archaeological markers associated with salt-making in Mesoamerica.
Activity Tool Feature Archaeological Markers Comments
Obtain salty earth Stone scrapers, baskets, Concentrations of salty earth Stone tools with wear Many perishable items are invisible in the
sacks, shovels, pots for on the surface patterns denoting earth archaeological record; we know them
storing salty earth scraping; potsherds through ethnography and ethnohistory.
Obtain salty water Clay pots Canals, dikes, wells Potsherds, “fossilized” Specialized ceramic types (potsherds or
canals preserved by whole vessels) remain in saltworks.Dykes
chemical residues and dams may be used to contain salty
water in inland lakes and coastal lagoons.
Canals take salty water from the source to
the workshop.
Leaching Clay pots Filtering devices (tapeixtle), Mounds of leached earth Leaching earth leaves huge mounds of
pits, or pilas or terreros soil, or terreros, that can last for centuries
on the landscape.
Evaporation (solar) Clay pots Eras or shallow evaporation Remains of eras covered Abandoned eras can last for extended
pans with lime-and-sand periods of time on the landscape, or below
mixture the surface.
Evaporation(fire) Clay pots Stoves or kilns, special pottery Ash concentrations, Thousands of salt-making pots were used
types (including cylindrical potsherds, pilas, remains and broken in the process of boiling brine
supports for holding pots over of ovens, stoves and transporting salt.
fire)
Polishing the surface of Medium-sized pebbles Pebbles, stones, or rocks The stones used to polish the eras are
the eras (evaporation polished by use (broken usually from outside the area of the
pans) or whole items) saltworks. After many years of use, they
may have diagnostic wear marks.

10 Williams
rake, then placed in the cajete and mixed with salt water to com-
mence the gravity-driven filtering process. Brine falls into the
taza, where it is stored and later taken to the eras. As the salt crys-
tallizes, it concentrates in one part of the era, then it is collected with
a rastrillo, a wooden rake without tines (Figure 13), and taken to the
asoleadero, where it is heaped up in a cone-shaped mound. Today,
the salt is carried in wheelbarrows, though formerly baskets made of
reeds were used (Reyes and Leytón 1992:140–141).
As far as technology is concerned, the influence of the Colima
saltworks extended from southern Sinaloa to northern Oaxaca. In
pre-Hispanic times, the most common salt-making technique was
based on boiling brine. Basically, when sea water or water from
saline wells was not used directly, it was necessary to first obtain
water with a high saline content, commonly known as brine (sal-
muera). This could be achieved by several different processes of
leaching and cleansing salt-bearing soils. After that, the brine
would be boiled to produce crystallized salt by evaporation. Both
processes, leaching and evaporation, were carried out using clay
pots. Although this method was effective, it was not very practical
if one wanted to produce great volumes of salt, so as demand
increased it became necessary to develop new technology. Thus it
was that in the second half—or perhaps closer to the end—of the
sixteenth century, the tapeixtle made its appearance in Colima.
This innovation made it possible to leach great amounts of earth
and obtain copious amounts of high-quality brine, which was no
longer boiled, but rather evaporated under the intense rays of the
sun (Reyes 1995:152).
The tapeixtle appears with many incarnations along the entire
Pacific coast of Mesoamerica, from Sacapulas, Guatemala (where
it is called cajón; see Andrews 1983:Figure 4.11) to Guerrero’s
Costa Chica (Quiroz 1998), and on to Sinaloa (Reyes 2004).
Many names were given to the different varieties of this brine-
leaching feature: tapesco, tapanco, tapeite, tapeixtle, tapestle, and
Figure 12. In the Cuyutlán saltworks, the salineros begin at an early age, tapextle. In many cases, the tapeixtle and its variants were used in
learning the trade in a household context. Photograph by Evelyn Flores.
conjunction with solar evaporation pans, which have been reported
from the Yucatán Peninsula in the south (Andrews 1997) to
Escuinapa, Sinaloa, in the north (Grave 2019:Figure 1).
wide by 3 m deep. The upper part consists of the cajete (bowl) that
sits atop the filtro (filtering device). At the bottom is the taza, or
The Coast of Guerrero
basin, into which the brine falls, while at the back of the structure
is the terrero, or mound of leached earth. There are several salt-making sites on the coast of Guerrero, many of
In front of the taza are the evaporation pans, arranged in a rect- them located in swamps and estuaries in the littoral south of
angular pattern, each one measuring 5 × 5 m or 7 × 7 m, with a Acapulco. At four of these localities—Tecomate, Los Tamarindos,
depth of 15 cm (Figure 12). One pozo may have 36 or more eras, Chautengo, and Pozahualco—saltworks are exploited during the
depending on the owner’s productive capacity and the quality of dry season, independently of each other and on a domestic scale
the earth around the production unit. The eras are interconnected or household level of production (Good 1995). At the first three
by small canals and are built at different levels so they can be sites named above, salt is made by leaching swamp soils that dry
filled by gravity. up during the long, hot, dry season. Salt-makers here carefully
Near the eras is the asoleadero, where the crystallized salt is break the thin upper layer of earth and carry the pieces in sacks or
heaped up under the sun to extract the remaining humidity. buckets to the saltworks, where they put them in a filter called a
Around the plan or plot are the comederos, the land that contains tapeite (a variant of the term tapeixtle discussed above;
the salty earth. The comederos measure on average 2 ha, but their Figure 14a). This tapeite is built over a base of wooden planks or
size varies according to the quality of the soil where the pozo is carrizo reeds covered by palm fronds or thick grass, with the
located. The same pozo can be used for an undetermined number sides made of adobe to form a rectangular bowl, covered by thick
of years, but it must be rebuilt at the beginning of each salt-making sand and a second layer of fine, sieved sand. Salty water is taken
season because the rising water of the lagoon during the rains will from a shallow well excavated close to the tapeite and poured
have covered and partially destroyed it (Reyes and Leytón 1992: over the salty earth. After trickling down through the filter, the
138–139). water is channeled to a holding tank coated with a mixture of
The salt-making process begins with gathering the salty earth sand and clay (Good 1995:Figures 4 and 5). The concentrated
from the comederos, using only soil from the uppermost layer. brine that falls into the tank is then moved to the eras, where it evap-
After this, the earth is heaped up in small piles using a wooden orates and is transformed into white, granular crystallized salt, called

Figure 13. Crystallized salt in the era is collected with a rastrillo in Cuyutlán, Colima. Courtesy of Blas Castellón.
la flor de la sal (Figure 14b). The pans are square or rectangular, brine with the appropriate degree of salinity. The tapeite system
carefully built with clay and coated with lime. They are arranged requires that the individual production units be dispersed in order
in single or double lines called mecates (Figure 14c). These pans to obtain adequate supplies of salt within a short distance. Each
are approximately 15 cm deep, and their size varies from 1.2 to area can be harvested approximately once a month, since the
2.2 m per side. The salt-makers sometimes shaped an independent intense sun constantly causes the salt to flare up to the ground
circular pan called comalli or comal. The salt produced in this surface (Good 1995:5).
feature was destined for ceremonial purposes. A considerable part of the salt from the Costa Chica of Guerrero
Salt-makers fill the tapeite twice a day, after first removing the circulates through exchange networks. In some cases, this is the
thick mud of previously leached earth, which is heaped on top of main mechanism for commercialization of the salt produced there.
the mounds of discarded soil called muros de tierra (earth walls) Most of the exchange is controlled by women, and an astounding
that rise on either side of the tapeite to a height of 2 m or more. amount and variety of goods are included: maize, beans, fruit,
Salt can be harvested daily (Figure 14d) from the smaller pans if cheese, meat, fish, sugar, baskets, petates, straw hats, pottery, blan-
the brine is salty enough and the sunlight sufficiently intense kets, and wood articles (Good 1995:10; see also Quiroz 1998).
through the day. Salt is gathered early in the afternoon using a This area of the coast has an excellent level of preservation of the
hoe-like wooden implement, brooms and buckets (Figure 15), material features used in salt production, despite the floods that
after which it is placed in a circular storage area, where excessive occur in the swamps every year during the rainy season. The
humidity is drained away and the grains of salt are left to dry thor- storage tanks and fragments of the wooden poles that support the
oughly. Each saltworks also has one or two salt mounds of conical tapeites can still be seen in situ, but the most long-lasting remains
shape, called muros de sal (salt walls; Good 1995:2). of the salt-making activities here are the mounds of discarded
Operating these saltworks on the Guerrero coast has been con- leached earth, which survive for decades (Good 1995:10).
sidered a feminine activity in both historic and present times, and In the area under discussion, salt-making and fishing are the
each family’s technical knowledge is passed on from women to primary economic activities, but there are other occupations as
their daughters or granddaughters (Good 1995:3). Men contribute well, such as small-scale trade and wage labor (both within the
to the salt-making industry mainly by building the tapeites, evapo- area and outside it). These may be considered optional, alternative
ration pans, and holding tanks, but the routine, daily tasks, such as or complementary strategies. During the rainy season, many fami-
gathering and moving the salty earth, filling up and emptying the lies are active in fishing and, in some cases, agriculture, while in
tapeites twice a day, pouring the brine into the salt pans, and har- the dry season, part of the population is involved in salt-making,
vesting the crystallized salt, are usually performed by women and as discussed above (Quiroz 1995:187).
children. The preparation of the tapeite, storage tanks, and evapora- In Guerrero’s Costa Chica, salt is still used as a unit of exchange,
tion tanks requires between 14 and 18 days of labor (Good 1995: as shown by Haydeé Quiroz’s research. This author says that the
3–4). expression “thanks to our saltworks we don’t lack anything,” is a
Successful production in these coastal saltworks depends on the statement of salt production as a way of life, whereby salt
adequate handling of several elements. The knowledge required is becomes a trade good that allows the acquisition of a wide variety
obtained and transmitted through collective practice—for instance, of goods, both regional and imported from afar. The list includes
selecting the right earth for leaching is crucial in order to produce fruit drinks, chilate (a typical Central American drink made of

12 Williams
Figure 14. Summary of salt-making activities in the coastal area of Guerrero: (a) brine is taken from the tapeite and poured into the era
(top), and the eras receive periodic maintenance (bottom); (b) salty water is brought from the estuary to the salt-making site (upper
left), then poured into the tapeite, where it is leached into brine (upper right), which becomes white salt in the eras under the rays of
the sun (bottom); (c) salt-making sites are spread over an extended area near the saltwater sources; (d) the eras are raked to collect the
salt and, finally, the crystallized salt is gathered from the era. Courtesy of Haydée Quiroz.

Figure 15. The eras are a common feature of the salt-making landscape in the area around Pozahualco and other towns on the Guerrero
coast. Courtesy of Haydée Quiroz.
chili peppers, roasted maize, cacao, anise, pepper and cinnamon), center of Tenochtitlan. Sodium chloride was also extracted,
prepared meals, maize, fruit, clothes, cosmetics, gold jewelry, bicy- although on a smaller scale, along the other margins of the lake,
cles, tape recorders, electric fans, and many other products (Quiroz as well as around Lake Xaltocan. There may have been a natural
1998:347). According to Quiroz (2009), salt production on the coast basis for this distribution of production; for example, variability
of Guerrero is geared primarily towards satisfying the needs of the in the concentrations of salts most suitable for human consumption,
salt-producing households, while the households that do not though the pressure from the huge urban mass at Tenochtitlan was
produce salt obtain this product through exchange based on without doubt a motivating factor in the intensity of salt manufac-
kinship networks that extend out to the local and regional levels. ture along the urban periphery, as producers sought to achieve the
In addition to forming part of the diet, salt has other uses in the greatest proximity to the largest concentration of consumers
area under discussion—for example, as a preservative for dehy- (Sanders et al. 1979).
drated fish and other kinds of meat. Around Lakes Texcoco, Xaltocan, and Zumpango, there was a
In addition to its exchange value, salt is an important source of strip of salty earth 500–1,000 m in width, which was the primary
cash for satisfying the everyday needs of households, especially salt-making area in antiquity. In this area, there are earthen
during the dry season. It can also help finance exceptional cash mounds covered with fragments of an abundant ceramic type
requirements, such as constructing a new house, or purchasing called Texcoco Fabric Marked (TFM), a late type related to Aztec
some electronic appliance like a television, stereo or even a refriger- salt production (Figure 16). These features provide strong evidence
ator. But salt wealth can go further in its role within the economy, as
it may be used to finance a wedding, or to cover expenses related to a
sickness or accident (Quiroz 2009:6).
The Basin of Mexico

In the Basin of Mexico, salt has long been an essential element of
culture and the economy, a mineral widely consumed throughout
history. According to Sanders et al. (1979), archaeological evidence
suggests that demand, always widespread and consistent, led to an
increase in production during the Late Postclassic (ca. a.d.
1200–1520), possibly related to the dense populations that lived
in the basin but had only a limited supply of animal protein.
There are good archaeological markers for identifying salt produc-
tion sites during this period, so we know that salt manufacture
was more intensive on the western margin of Lake Texcoco, and Figure 16. Texcoco Fabric Marked is an abundant ceramic type related to
on the southern and northern boundaries of the sprawling urban Aztec salt production in the Basin of Mexico. Courtesy of Jeffrey Parsons.

14 Williams
of the intensity and scale of salt manufacture in the pre-Hispanic this pottery type have led to the hypothesis that some effort was
past (Sanders et al. 1979:85, 292–293). made to produce salt for exchange in loaves of standard shapes
The identification of salt-making archaeological sites in the and sizes (Parsons 2001:257).
Basin of Mexico depends on several unique, specialized features. Even the oldest methods of salt production could still be found in
Each of these sites consisted of at least one low mound of varying some places within the Basin of Mexico in the first half of the twen-
size, but with homogeneous earth fill, distributed along the tieth century. In the 1940s, Ola Apenes documented salt-making
beaches around Lake Texcoco, roughly within the boundaries of a activities in San Cristóbal Nexquipayac, a village of some 900
strip of land that is subject to intermittent flooding. Apparently, people on the northwest margins of Lake Texcoco (Apenes 1944).
the process of salt extraction here included leaching sodium chloride At that time, Nexquipayac was the only remaining community in
from the highly salty soils, and these mounds are the accumulated the Basin of Mexico with a significant interest in salt production
residues from this process. Only in a few cases were architectonic (Parsons 1994:259). Salt production at Nexquipayac has always
elements found in association with these sites—for example, been concentrated in an isolated barrio called Las Salinas, located
house mounds atop larger earth mounds. Another essential charac- some 250 m southwest of Nexquipayac’s center (Parsons 2001).
teristic of these sites is that the artifacts found consist almost entirely The simplest way to exploit the saline substances that lie around
of TFM pottery. There is good archaeological evidence indicating Lake Texcoco involves breaking up the crusts that form in puddles
that this pottery was used in salt production (though Parsons during the dry season. This mineral is called tequesquite, and is
[2001] has suggested other possible uses, see below). Finally, it is sold for home use or to be utilized in chemical facilities (Apenes
significant that most of these sites show no signs of permanent 1944:37). The objective of the most elaborate process witnessed
occupation. by Apenes involved breaking down the tequesquite into its constit-
Because TFM pottery is limited to Aztec occupation phases, all uent elements to produce simpler products, mainly white salt for
the salt-making sites discovered are chronologically late. However, home use, dark salt for meat conservation, and, lastly, salitre
the occasional presence of earlier pottery in these localities suggests (saltpeter).
that some of them may also have a Teotihuacan (ca. a.d. 100–500) Salt-makers in the Valley of Mexico have an intimate knowledge
or Formative period (ca. 500 b.c.) component. There are also indi- of the characteristics of the earth in different areas of the basin, espe-
cations (because of the surface distribution of high concentrations of cially in terms of its salt content. According to the desired final
TFM pottery) that salt manufacture was carried out at other Aztec product, different kinds of earth are mixed and placed on the
sites, which have been defined as hamlets and villages (Sanders ground, where the salt-makers then walk barefoot over the
et al. 1979:57–58). mixture. Other kinds of earth are added to the mix because they
Parsons (1994, 1996, 2001, 2019) found that TFM pottery are assumed to have a cleansing effect on the final product; one
appears in great concentrations around the margins of the of these is called “sweet earth” (necuticapoyatl in Nahuatl). After
Texcoco-Xaltocan-Zumpango lakes. This pottery type is quite this, the earth mixture is placed in a cylindrical excavation called
abundant in Late Postclassic sites around the margins of salty a pila (Figure 17), which is situated in such a way that it can be
Lake Texcoco, but virtually absent around Lake Chalco, which is drained through a small pipe that protrudes from the center-bottom
a freshwater lake. More than anything else, this regional distribution part (Parsons 2001:Figure 2.3). The pipe’s inner opening is pro-
indicates the association between TFM pottery and salt-making tected by a filter made of ayate (maguey fiber). When fresh water
activities in this area (Parsons 2001:249). TFM pottery has been is poured over the earth inside the pila, it dissolves the salts and
found in concentrations above 90 percent on the surface of low, drips slowly through the pipe. The concentrated solution is gathered
irregularly shaped mounds, most of which are 10–20 m long by in a clay pot and then placed in a paila, or rectangular pan, that is
1.0–1.5 m wide, though some are as long as 400 m and 2 or 3 m transferred to a primitive adobe stove. This is where crystallization
high. In most cases, these mounds are in areas where natural soil takes place—a process that may take from one to three hours. The
salinity is so great that there is almost no vegetation (Parsons fuel formerly used consisted of maize stalks, grasses, or animal
2001:251). dung, since wood is scarce in the region.
The presence of mounds covered by TFM pottery, together with When a finer product is desired, the mass of crystallized salt is
accounts from the sixteenth century that describe salt-making activ- washed by sprinkling water on it. The salt-maker (iztatlero) fills
ities on the shores of Lake Texcoco, have allowed several archaeol- his mouth with water and then sprays it on the salt, though others
ogists to link this ceramic type with the production of sodium use a water sprinkler called a rociador. A more complicated
chloride by the Aztecs. Some authors, notably Charlton (1969, method consists of retrieving the water before the crystallization
1971), have suggested that TFM pottery was used to boil brine process is totally completed, and then drying the solidified salts.
over a fire to obtain crystallized salt, but nowadays the prevailing Due to the varying degrees of solubility of different kinds of salt
viewpoint is that these vessels were not used for boiling, but at different temperatures, the resulting solutions have distinct com-
rather to pack salt for distribution throughout the Basin of Mexico positions that produce different varieties of salt once crystallized.
and neighboring areas. However, because of the few archaeological This procedure may be repeated to obtain several kinds of salt,
excavations carried out to date in what we assume to be salt-making but salitre is always the last one in the sequence (Apenes 1944:
sites, it has been very difficult to define the real link between TFM 35–40).
pottery and the salt-making industry in the Basin of Mexico During the archaeological survey that he undertook in the
(Parsons 2001:251). Texcoco region in 1967, Parsons discovered that salt was still
Parsons has emphasized the possibility that while TFM pottery being manufactured in Nexquipayac, apparently using techniques
may not have been used to boil brine, it could have been involved identical to the ones reported by Apenes some 30 years earlier.
in other steps of the salt-making process—for instance, the final According to Parsons (1994), despite the general knowledge we
drying of crystallized salt using a source of low heat, perhaps have accumulated in relation to salt-making activities during the
over, or near a bonfire. The variations in the shape and volume of Postclassic period in the Basin of Mexico, there is little specific

Figure 17. This salt-maker uses a large wooden mallet to prepare the pila for leaching in an example of the material culture associated
with the maintenance of salt-making sites in Nexquipayac. Courtesy of Jeffrey Parsons.
information regarding this industry, especially for the early phases may indicate that “at least during the rainy season, some crude ditch-
of the pre-Hispanic era. ing and banking facilitated the soil-collecting process and that the
Salt manufacture in Nexquipayac consists of six steps: (1) gath- salty earth was collected as mud and placed in a basket for transport
ering the soils from which salt will be extracted; (2) mixing those to the workshop” (Parsons 2001:70).
soils in the prescribed manner in order to obtain one of four possible Sources from the sixteenth century suggest that there may have
products (white salt, black salt, yellow salt, or salitre) and sprinkling been two distinct salt manufacturing processes at Lake Texcoco at
the soil with brine; (3) filtering water through the earth to leach the the moment of the Spanish conquest: one similar to that seen now-
salt and concentrate it in a brine solution; (4) boiling the brine to adays in Nexquipayac, involving the leaching of salty soils and
obtain crystallized salt; (5) drying the crystallized salt; and (6) boiling of brine, and a simpler one, which consisted in solar evap-
selling the final product (Parsons 2001:16–17). The production of oration of shallow puddles of salty water.
sodium chloride in Nexquipayac requires three kinds of investment Parsons (1994) suggests that, because of high fuel costs and the
in terms of labor and capital: maintenance of workshops and other need for the knowhow and technical experience that only special-
production areas, securing access to appropriate lands, and procur- ized production could offer, it is highly unlikely that the leaching-
ing fuel for the boiling operations (Parsons 1994:263). boiling method was very popular in the Basin of Mexico before
Parsons (2001) conducted a thorough study of the natural and the Middle Postclassic (ca. a.d. 1150–1350). The incentive for
cultural landscapes associated with salt-making in the area of the transformation from a more generalized form of production,
Nexquipayac known as Las Salinas. He found that “the main part such as solar evaporation, to a more specialized one, like leaching-
of the workshop occupies an area of about 15 × 15 m atop a large boiling, may have been linked to the combination of two important
mound that has built up to a height of 3–6 m above the surrounding factors that made it necessary to increase production after a.d. 1200:
plain over the course of approximately a century of salt-making” first, considerable and sustained population growth on a regional
(Parsons 2001:24; Figure 18). He tells us that during a period of level; and second, changes in the political economy that required
25–30 years, “the main product of the workshop has been sal greater amounts of salted fish, dyed textiles, cleansing agents, and
blanca [white salt], with approximately 10 percent of the total uniformly packed salt, all of which were required to supply the
output devoted to sal negra [black salt] … a separate area … was increasingly urbanized communities, as well as for the functioning
reserved for the production of these materials” (Parsons 2001:26). of the market and tribute systems. Finally, salt production played an
In one of the workshops he studied, earth from the mound of important role in defining a more complex sociopolitical hierarchy
leached soil was mixed with lakeshore soil to make sal blanca, (Parsons 1994:284).
though the site’s primary function was to provide storage space According to Parsons, it is likely that salt has been produced for
for a variety of artifacts used by the salt-makers in different activities centuries (perhaps millennia) by means of solar evaporation in the
(Figure 19). According to Parsons, in the 1930s, “the lakebed dry season in shallow ponds around the lake margins. Both produc-
source-area zone was … much wetter than it is at present.” This tion methods—boiling brine over fire and solar evaporation—have

16 Williams
Figure 18. A salt-making workshop in Nexquipayac, showing two separate boiling huts, used, respectively, to produce sal blanca (white
salt) and sal negra (black salt). Courtesy of Jeffrey Parsons.
Figure 19. Salt-making workshop in Nexquipayac, showing the tool storage area (foreground) and the mound of leached soil (back-
ground). Courtesy of Jeffrey Parsons.

been used simultaneously in historic times, and both were likely employed paid labor. The construction and maintenance of salt-
used in pre-Hispanic times as well. However, this idea has one works required substantial capital investment, and the shortage of
inherent problem: no one has yet described the solar evaporation capital was the main reason why several such operations around
technique in this area; consequently, we do not have sufficient Zapotitlán were eventually abandoned (Sisson 1973:85).
information about the material manifestations of this method. We In those saltworks, water was first allowed to collect in deep
do know that this process survived until the 1940s in this region, round pits excavated into the bedrock, but was later removed by
and that it was clearly less complex than the leaching-boiling men using large metal containers or clay pots. The pits were
method in terms of the procedures and artifacts used, fuel require- reached by means of spiral staircases that circled them and
ments, and the degree of specialized knowledge required (Parsons reached below the water table. Once the water was taken out of
1996:446). the pits, it was held in a storage tank before being carried to the
If solar evaporation pans were used in the area under discussion, evaporation pans. Canals conducted water from springs to a
it is possible that they were coated with lime, like the examples we storage tank or pond, where some concentration of its salt content
know from elsewhere in Mesoamerica (Williams 2015). In this was carried out. From there, the liquid was transported to pools
regard, it is worth noting that lime works are known to have called calentadores (heaters), where earth was added to the salty
existed in the Basin of Mexico during the colonial period. Parsons water to make a stronger saline mixture. Once the mud had settled
(2008:102) reports that “there is abundant historic and ethnographic at the bottom of the calentador, the remaining salty water was
documentation about the importance of the Zumpango region … as taken, with care, to a nearby patio called a salinera, where the
a source of lime during the colonial and modern periods.” final evaporation process took place. When salt crystals began to
De Leon (2009) conducted a study of the household organization form on the surface of the brine in the salinera, the water was
of salt production among the Aztecs. He arrived at the conclusion stirred with a stick called an aflojador (loosener), which supposedly
that in the Aztec case, salt-making was carried out by households facilitated the formation of larger crystals. Salt was scraped from the
together with other subsistence activities, such as agriculture, bottom of the salinera and kept temporarily near the patios. Finally,
hunting, and the gathering of aquatic resources. Salt-making took it was stored in natural caves or cavities in saline mounds (the latter
place in the dry season, and the production activities took place perhaps of pre-Hispanic origin; Sisson 1973:85–86). When the
outside the salt-makers’ homes. These data, together with the brine was ready, handfuls were thrown into the center of the salinera
work of Parsons (2001, 2011, 2019) and others (e.g., de Lucia to form a mound of salt that was later removed and stored as a humid
and Overholtzer 2014; Hirth 2009), have important implications mass in a nearby cave.
for our understanding of full-time versus part-time activities, as Although salt could be produced almost continuously through-
well as for the interpretation of independent activity areas and out the year, there was a strong tendency towards seasonal work,
their relationship with nearby households. mainly during the dry season. The best time of the year for
Thanks to historical sources, we know that salt was widely avail- making salt was at the end of winter and during the spring—that
able in the regional marketplaces of the Basin of Mexico. This was is, before the onset of the summer rains. This particular region pro-
made possible by an efficient and extensive distribution system duced two kinds of salt: sal de comer (table salt), which was gath-
(Berdan 2014). Sodium chloride from the Basin of Mexico, ered from the center of the salineras, and sal de animales (salt for
however, was not the only salt available in those markets: “White animals), which was obtained by scraping the bottom of the pond.
fine grained salt was sea salt from the coast, probably the northeast- Since these two different kinds of salt crystallized at different
ern Yucatán peninsula, which exported salt all the way to the Basin moments, they had distinct proportions or compositions of
of Mexico” (Hirth 2016:164). mineral salts.
Sisson’s description shows that few specialized tools were used
in salt production that might be preserved in the archaeological
Puebla
record. The wooden aflojadores and woven baskets or storage
During the second half of the sixteenth century, land, water, and salt bags could only be preserved in particularly dry caves, while the
were, in that order, the most valuable natural resources in the pots used for brine transportation would not be readily distinguish-
Tehuacán Valley, Puebla (Sisson 1973). Salt was a basic commodity able from the ones used to carry or store fresh water. Nonetheless,
in trade systems that included both raw materials and finished prod- some material remains produced by salt-making activities and the
ucts, and spanned a huge region: from the present-day state of elements that required a high level of capital investment might be
Hidalgo to Guatemala. But the importance of salt was even recognizable archaeologically. Among these, we could mention
greater in pre-Hispanic times, as evidenced by the numerous salt- the remains of pits or wells, canals, storage tanks, solar evaporation
producing sites, like those from the Venta Salada phase (ca. a.d. pools or pans, and accumulations of mud. In fact, “fossilized” canals
700–1540). These sites are widely distributed, suggesting that this have been preserved in association with pre-Hispanic salt-making
was a basic industry during the Postclassic period. The distribution sites in several places in the Tehuacán Valley (Byers 1967:
of salt-making sites in the Tehuacán Valley corresponds quite Figure 15; Sisson 1973:87–88).
closely to the Tehuacán geological formation, which consists of a The characteristics of archaeological salt-making sites are quite
geological stratum with an abundant content of salt-rich sediments variable, but they can be recognized thanks to the presence of the
that were deposited when part of the valley was covered by seawater following: (1) a distinctive ceramic assemblage; (2) peculiarly
eons ago (Sisson 1973:81). shaped earth mounds; and (3) in some cases, the remains of solar
Edward Sisson’s 1970s study of the modern traditional salt evaporation pans. The ceramics involved would include hand-
industry in Zapotitlán and other towns in this region of Puebla molded solid cylinders and numerous small fragments of the
showed that each saltworks was considered the private property of vessels that were used as molds or containers for boiling brine.
one or more owners. In some cases, the owners themselves per- Some of these vessels are typologically similar to the Texcoco
formed the salt-making process, though they more frequently Fabric Marked type from the Basin of Mexico discussed above.

18 Williams
Also, some of the earth mounds had pottery tubes or pipes in the entrance to a long canal that runs for 50 or 60 m, at a depth of 3
center, which may have functioned as parts of filtration systems. m from the surface, before emptying into a complex of evaporation
On the basis of geological, ethnohistorical and archaeological pans (Martínez and Castellón 1995:60–61). In many cases, modern
data, Sisson (1973) arrived at some general ideas in relation to the pans have been constructed in the form of terraces in order to be
elaboration of salt in the Postclassic and colonial periods in the closer to the wells. This is reminiscent of the pre-Hispanic construc-
Tehuacán Valley. For example, if salt was extracted primarily tion method, of which there are many examples at Cuthá and other
from salty earth, then a preliminary stage of preparation was sites in Puebla. Once the water fills the pans, it is left for a month to
required, since the process would have involved leaching. six weeks, depending on the weather conditions. When the pan is
Because of the enormous volumes of earth that would have had to free of sediments and salt begins to crystallize on the surface,
be leached, this stage would have been performed very close to forming large salt crusts or scales, the pan is scraped to break up
the source of the earth used; otherwise the process would have the lumps of salt. This process is carried out with a long wooden
been unprofitable. Leaching salt from the earth requires some shovel used to lift the salt, which by now is almost completely dehy-
kind of container, as well as an ample water supply and some drated. The small blocks of salt formed on the pan are broken up and
means of trapping the water once it passes through the earth. One pulverized by hitting them with a long stick (Martínez and Castellón
possible way to filter the water may have consisted of a high 1995:64–65).
platform made of wooden posts, with a layer of fibrous material The use of salt evaporation pans like the ones discussed above is
(possibly a petate or reed mat) at the top. A load of earth would a pre-Hispanic tradition that has persisted up to the present. Close to
be placed on top of the petate for leaching, and the saline solution the pans currently used in Cuthá one sees abundant remains of
would be caught below in a pot, a pit, or some other kind of similar ancient features, as well as mounds of discarded potsherds
receptacle placed on the ground under the platform. In fact, (up to 3 m in height) and alignments of stone slabs that undoubtedly
Castellón found such a filtering device in a pre-Hispanic context were the boundaries of ancient evaporation pans. These mounds
at Zapotitlán, Puebla (Castellón 2016:Figures 11 and 28). consist exclusively of pottery of three different types, all of them
Obviously, the by-product of this stage would consist of huge probably associated with the production and distribution of salt
amounts of discarded, leached earth. If water was not available loaves in antiquity (Martínez and Castellón 1995:64–65, 71).
for leaching at the salt production site, it had to be carried to the Castellón (2016) reported on the results of his fieldwork in the
site and stored there. The archaeological markers of these activities salt-producing region of Puebla, where he made several significant
would be pots, canals, and water storage tanks. discoveries. First, his excavations turned up a pre-Hispanic tank for
Two evaporation methods were employed in the Tehuacán holding brine after leaching at Salinas Antiguas, Zapotitlán, Puebla.
Valley before the Conquest: solar evaporation and boiling over This find allowed him to make a hypothetical reconstruction of the
fire. The first method required only a waterproof container, like pre-Hispanic leaching process using a tapeixtle-like feature.
the large, shallow pans that have been preserved in the archaeolog- Another notable contribution of Castellón’s investigations is a the-
ical record. Today, such pans are waterproofed by adding a lime oretical scheme that explains the actual use of fiber-marked pottery
coating over a base of small stones. The oven that would have in the salt-making process. This involved a hearth with clay cylin-
been required to produce the lime might also be preserved in the ders that supported vessels over fire inside a combustion structure
archaeological record (Sisson 1973:91). that was used for evaporating brine at Zapotitlán, Puebla.
The second method of salt production involved heating the brine Archaeological research on salt production cannot rely on
over a slow fire. This process was more efficient than the one ancient material culture alone—that is, solar pans, potsherds, and
described above because it did not require a large capital investment so on—since a good part of the tool assemblage used in the salt-
to build the solar evaporation pans; all that was needed was a vessel works consists of perishable artifacts and materials, such as the fol-
to hold the brine, a bonfire, and some kind of base to support the lowing items reported by Castellón (2016) from Puebla: a wooden
vessel over the fire. In this case, the archaeological evidence that box used for measuring salt, called a cuartillo and several kinds
might persist into posterity would consist of clay vessels, fire of baskets, made of rushes and reeds, that are indispensable for oper-
stains on the soil, and ash from the fire. ations in the saltworks.
Once the salt was ready, whether by means of solar evaporation After the foregoing discussion of salt-making material culture,
or boiling over fire, it had to be packed for storage or shipping. techniques, and sites in different areas of Mesoamerica, in the
During the early colonial period in the area of Zapotitlán Salinas, following section I discuss the tools and features used by
baskets may have been used to store and transport salt. Another pre-Hispanic salt-makers, as well as their possible interpretation in
form of packing may have consisted of making “loaves” of humid light of the available archaeological, ethnographic, and ethnohisto-
salt, either by hand-molding or using clay molds (Sisson 1973:93). rical information.
The presence of fabric-marked pottery in parts of Puebla has
been interpreted as proof that molds were used to manufacture salt
THE SALT-MAKING TOOL ASSEMBLAGE
blocks or loaves. This would indicate that salt was being packed
in a uniform, easy-to-carry form. It could also mean that salt units What follows is a brief discussion of several tool assemblages drawn
were created following standardized qualities, volumes, and from the literature in Mesoamerica and other areas. In most cases,
weights in pre-Hispanic times (Castellón 2014:77). they come from archaeological excavations or collections, but a
There are also many salt deposits around the site of Cuthá, some few are from ethnographic or “systemic” contexts. The first
4 km from Zapotitlán. In an area between the streams that run example is linked to pre-Hispanic salt production on the
towards the Zapotitlán River and the gully excavated by this river, Caribbean coast of southeastern Belize. This was an outstanding
salt is still being made using pre-Hispanic techniques. There, region, thanks to the many saltworks that existed there in ancient
water is extracted by hand from a well and then placed in a small times. Saltworks located in the extensive littorals of Mesoamerica
chute-like masonry feature called a cajón, which is located at the were always critical, as they may have contributed salt of superior

quality and in greater amounts than that produced inland. On the reducer,” used to join two pipes with different sized openings.
Atlantic coast, the saltworks in Celestún, Yucatán, for example, Items like this suggest the existence of a piping system for brine,
were among the most productive in the entire Maya area, though probably used in conjunction with thick-walled clay vessels. The
many others produced salt at the local level—for instance, salt industry on the coast of Belize was closely linked to fishing
Stingray Lagoon in Belize. Andrews (1983) stated that the principle in estuaries and the open sea. The local assemblage includes arti-
salt source in Mesoamerica, in both past and present times, has been facts identified as fishnet sinkers, such as a stone disc with
the coast of Yucatán, where salt is still obtained by solar evaporation notches found in the salt-producing area in southeastern coastal
of the water from an extensive system of pools. Many saltworks Belize (McKillop 2019:Figure 6.6).
were found in the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, and In addition to items directly linked to salt production and fishing,
during historical times there were small solar saltworks on several the local assemblage includes chert objects identified as cutting and
islands off the Yucatán coast as well. Archaeological evidence scraping tools, probably used for processing salted fish (McKillop
shows that the exploitation of these and other saltworks in 2019; McKillop and Aoyama 2018). One of the most salient char-
Yucatán goes back to the Late Formative period (ca. 300 b.c.a.d. acteristics of McKillop’s (2002, 2019) work in Belize is the fact
300; Andrews 1983). that salt water has contributed to the preservation of many perish-
Sodium chloride is unique among the strategic resources studied able features and artifacts at the ancient salt-making sites, most of
by archaeologists because salt is usually not preserved in the archae- which have been submerged by rising sea levels. Such is the case
ological record. In the case of the saltworks studied by Heather of many preserved wooden instruments, including a possible
McKillop (1995, 2002, 2019) on the Caribbean littoral of Belize, gouge handle (McKillop 2019:Figure 6.11) that may have been
the rise of sea levels in recent centuries has obliterated most linked to salt production or fish-processing, the main economic
ancient salt-making sites. At the same time, however, the marine activities in the area.
environment preserved part of the material culture associated with Based on her excavations of the salt-producing sites in Belize,
salt production, including wooden structures and many artifacts. McKillop (2002) made a hypothetical reconstruction of the tech-
McKillop analyzed the structures, pottery and other preserved mate- niques used for boiling brine to produce crystallized salt, which
rials to evaluate the scale, intensity and organization of the salt relied on pots with clay supports that were held over fire in order
industry and the role of this strategic resource in Classic Maya to evaporate the brine.
domestic and political economies. In another part of Belize, Satoru Murata (2011) studied salt-
The case study discussed here is the Paynes Creek salt produc- making and pottery production in a non-residential setting at Wits
tion area on the coast of southern Belize. McKillop (2019) evaluates Cah Ak’al, a Classic period (ca. a.d. 250–900) site located in a man-
the scale and social organization of production at this location grove landscape some 12 miles west of Belize City. Excavations of a
during the Classic period, as well as its impact on regional trade net- ceramic assemblage consisting of briquetage (coarse pottery used to
works, in particular the nearby inland populations. make evaporation vessels and supporting pillars for extracting salt
There are some 100 salt-making sites in the Paynes Creek area, from brine or seawater over fire) revealed at least one salt-boiling
and the wooden structures documented in McKillop’s (2019) exca- pit furnace that may have involved several pottery vessels used to
vations indicate a high level of production. Indeed, if all the loca- boil brine.
tions were in production at the same time, they would have been The data for analogy used in this research are not limited to
able to provide a considerable amount of salt. After the downfall Mesoamerica, for Yankowski (2019) made a study of salt-making
of Maya civilization at the end of the Classic period (ca. a.d. and pottery production in Alburquerque, Bohol, central Philippines.
900), however, many of the sites that relied on salt from the Following an ethnoarchaeological approach, Yankowski examines
Paynes Creek area ceased to exist and the salt industry disappeared. these two contemporary craft activities, highlighting their inter-
By documenting the material culture—artifacts and features— dependence for the manufacture and trade of salt. The pots in ques-
preserved underwater, McKillop offers a new perspective on an tion function as containers for boiling brine in stoves, as well as
indispensable component of Maya culture. In McKillop’s book standard units of measurement for trade, something we see in
Maya Salt Works, salt is revealed as a “mover and shaker of Mesoamerica and many other areas of the world, including the
ancient Maya society” (McKillop 2019:179). The social functions island of Fiji (Melanesia, South Pacific Ocean). In Fiji, clay pots
of salt were, and still are, multifaceted, wide-ranging, and everlast- were used in the process of salt elaboration, though the technology
ing. According to McKillop (2019:179), “as a basic biological neces- employed there relied on solar evaporation rather than boiling
sity, as a flavor enhancer, as a food preservative, and as a currency brine over fire (Burley et al. 2011), as occurred in the Philippines.
equivalent, salt … was a common commodity in the ancient Maya The assemblage here consists of decorated jars, probably used
economy.” Although we tend to think that white table salt is the for water (or brine) transport in the saltworks, and a type of
most desirable outcome of the salt-making process, McKillop shallow vessel called a “salt tray,” used for the solar evaporation
(2019:191) argues that in the case under study, “salt workers adjusted of brine.
the length and intensity of boiling, the soil or sediment selected for As we have seen in the foregoing pages, many of the tools and
enriching the brine … and whether fresh water or sea water was fil- artifacts that comprise the modern salt-making assemblage consist
tered through the soil in the enrichment process” in order to alter of perishable materials, such as baskets and wooden structures. In
the chemical composition of the salt. This may seem surprising, fact, reed baskets are among the most indispensable and ubiquitous
but it makes sense if salt was not being produced for household con- items that one sees today in saltworks, yet they are seldom preserved
sumption, but rather for making salt loaves used as exchange units, in the archaeological record. The same is true for the sacks made of
and for salting fish as part of a well-developed fishing industry that ixtle fiber (Agave sp.), called guangoche, which go back to
functioned within a widespread, complex trade structure. pre-Hispanic times in Michoacán. The guangoche can be used for
McKillop (2019) found a clay tube in her excavations on the gathering and storing soil for making salt, as well as the crystallized
southern Belizean coast. She identified this unique find as a “pipe salt itself.

20 Williams
Figure 20. The broom used for sweeping the era was little more than a bundle of twigs, yet it was an important component of the
assemblage used in the saltworks on the coast of Michoacán. Photograph by the author.
Given that under normal circumstances, baskets and textiles that we fail to … see that things are connected to and dependent
are not preserved in the archaeological record, one of the few on other things. We do not recognize that they are not inert. And
ways that the archaeologist can approach this component of the we forget they have temporalities different from ours, until those
assemblage is by looking for the types of tools that could be temporalities intrude in on us, causing us to take action” (Hodder
linked to basket-making, such as deer antler and bone tools 2012:6). Hodder then poses the rhetorical question, “What is a
(Williams 2020:Figure 88). As for maguey fiber production, ethno- thing?”, and goes on to answer it as follows: “A thing is an entity
archaeological work by Parsons (2005) has identified the spindle that has presence … it has a configuration that endures, however
whorls employed in spinning the fibers used to make sacks, briefly … We are more likely to use the word object for things
cordage, and countless other items. In addition to textiles such that are relatively stable in form … The term ‘object’ … connotes
as ixtle fiber, the assemblage used by salt-makers throughout an … approach in which material matter is analyzed, codified and
Mesoamerica relied on baskets, mats, and many other items made caught in disciplinary discourse” (Hodder 2012:7–8).
of rushes and reeds, including improvised “brooms” for sweeping The plot thickens once we factor humans into the equation. In
the eras, which are little more than bundles of twigs, like the Hodder’s (2012:10) view, “humans would never have evolved
example seen at La Placita (Figure 20). without things … the human dependence on things leads to an
In discussing the assemblage as an archaeological concept, entanglement between humans and things that has implications
Hamilakis and Jones (2017:77) mention that this term “is for the ways in which we have evolved and for the ways in which
common to a number of academic disciplines, most notably archae- we live in societies today.” Hodder further argues that “humans
ology and art, but also geology and paleontology.” They also point and human social life depend on things … as technologies … as
out that “its omnipresent use in archaeology seems to have taken on tools to feed us, to keep us warm, to forge social relations in
two distinct but related meanings: the aggregation of objects made exchange, to worship … as humans we have evolved with certain
of the same material (i.e., an assemblage of pottery or lithics) or physical and cognitive capacities because of our dependence on
held together by shared typological or stylistic similarities” things” (Hodder 2012:16). Going one step further in his discussion
(Hamilakis and Jones 2017:77). According to Hamilakis and of this entanglement between humans and things, Hodder (2012:
Jones (2017), objects can be broken up and shared between 40, 41) says that “things depend on other things,” and elaborates
people to establish material relationships. Objects can also be "accu- on this idea thus: “We are used to discussions of how humans
mulated, or assembled, and these relations will be expressed depend on other humans, but we are perhaps less used to thinking
anew” (Hamilakis and Jones 2017:81). The relationship between about thing–thing dependence. We need to understand how things
objects and people, be it merely “everyday things” or archaeological depend on each other before we can explore how they depend on
artifacts, has also been approached by Hodder (2012). In his discus- us … things are connected to and flow into other things, always trans-
sion of the relationships between humans and things, Hodder (2012: forming and being transformed.” The foregoing statement leads to
5) stated that “objects and materials can endure over time spans con- the conclusion that “in our everyday dealing with the world there is
siderably greater than individual human experience … we depend a web of functional relationships in which things are encountered
on an apparent durability of things … and yet at other scales in their interdependent functions and in terms of their relevance to
things are always changing and moving.” In Hodder’s opinion, “it what we are doing” (Hodder 2012:41). These arguments lead
is because we take things for granted, often not focusing on them, Hodder (2012:44) to the following conclusion:

Even the earliest cultural acts, such as the making of fire … salt-making sites is the wide range of artifacts currently used in
involved an assemblage of objects from fire-making tools, to the manufacture of salt that are made of perishable substances
the pit in which the fire was made, to the wood used for fuel, (wood, fibers, basketry, animal skins, and so on) that would
and thus the containers or tools used to cut or collect wood, leave few, if any, archaeological remains. This is why the
and so on. It involved social units that participated in receiving
ethnographic observation of systemic contexts (Schiffer 1988) is
warmth, protection and cooked food from the fire. The energy
from the fire coalesced humans around things in the projects of
essential for achieving an understanding as complete as possible
keeping warm, gaining energy, getting light, cooking food, of ancient salt-making activities. Archaeological excavation on
forming social alliances and so on. Keeping the fire going its own would never be able to give us a complete vision of this
must itself have involved duties and obligations. industry.
I have developed a “functional” view of the different tool
In the same vein as making a fire and keeping it alive, making, assemblages and production sites I have come across in ethnoarch-
maintaining, and using an era at La Placita, or a canoa at Simirao aeological fieldwork, since I have been able to observe the
(or any other salt-making site), involved a whole range of artifacts, salt-makers, potters, fishers, basket-makers, and other artisans in
actions, and social relationships that are materialized in the tool their actual work areas. Obviously, the observations made in a
assemblage. systemic or ethnographic context leave no doubt as to the actual
We have to bear in mind that the core components of an archae- function of tools and other artifacts. The “tool-kits” studied in an
ological assemblage are the artifact together with the patterned rela- ethnographic context become part of a heuristic process many
tionships with artifacts, always mediated by human culture and archaeologists use to understand the archaeological assem-
agency. Ingold (2013:27) wrote that “there seem to be two sides blages—and their functions—by means of analogy (Binford
to materiality. On one side is the raw physicality of the world’s 1983; Schiffer 1992).
‘material character’; on the other side is the socially and historically Most traditional crafts linked to salt-making, such as pottery
situated agency of human beings who, in appropriating this physi- production, basket-weaving, and lime manufacture, are all activities
cality for their purposes … project upon it both design and that have disappeared almost entirely from the areas discussed in
meaning in the conversion of naturally given raw materials into this article. The knowledge required to successfully carry out
the finished form of artefacts.” salt-making activities was obtained and transmitted through collec-
Addressing a culture–nature dichotomy in the intrinsic essence tive practice—for instance, selecting the right kind of earth for
of artifacts, Ingold (2013:38) argues that “culture furnishes the leaching is crucial for producing brine with the appropriate degree
forms, nature the materials; in the superimposition of the one of salinity (Good 1995:5). This knowledge is a central component
upon the other human beings create the artefacts with which, to of the cultural heritage in salt-producing communities, one that
an ever increasing extent, they surround themselves.” But going goes hand-in-hand with general knowledge about the ecological
beyond the single artifact, an assemblage is defined by its overall environment and that, over time, has shaped a particular cultural
function. We have an example of this in the aquatic lifeway, landscape.
which is characterized by an assemblage geared towards the exploi- The natural and cultural landscapes associated with salt produc-
tation of lake and marsh environments by targeting several clusters tion, both ancient and modern, in the Basin of Mexico (and other
of resources (and activities): fishing, hunting, gathering, and manu- areas) are an example of a cultural heritage that is under threat.
facture (Williams 2014). Here I have added salt-making to the spec- Parsons (2008:104) bemoans “the serious destruction of many
trum of subsistence activities, production sites, artifacts, and archaeological sites, and entire landscapes, during the decades
assemblages, in the context of aquatic adaptations in Mesoamerica after the original surveys were carried out [in Lake Zumpango].
(Williams 2021). We might well ask whether it is realistic to think that we will
ever be able to address the [research] problems we have defined
with the surviving archaeological record in the Valley of
Mexico.”
CONCLUSIONS
Parsons (2008:104) “undertook a general reconnaissance
The ethnoarchaeological perspective followed in my research on throughout most surveyed portions of the Valley of Mexico, in-
salt manufacture and exchange relates to the creation, use, and dis- cluding the Zumpango Region, in order to evaluate the general con-
carding of the different elements of material culture related to sub- dition of archaeological sites. We found that while there is much
sistence activities, including production sites and tool assemblages, really bad news, at the same time there is also a little room for cau-
as discussed above. No less important are the traditional beliefs and tious optimism for new archaeological fieldwork in the future.”
knowledge, as well as a whole worldview or cosmovision associated From Parsons’ perspective, there have been many destructive
with salt, an indispensable commodity with dietary, industrial, forces at work over the past three decades in the Basin of Mexico:
medicinal, and ritual uses. “Urban sprawl … the mechanization of agriculture … the construc-
This article is based on the book Aquatic Adaptations in tion of massive terraces using bulldozers, and the reforestation of
Mesoamerica (Williams 2021), which explores the strategies many of these terraces … large-scale quarrying for sand, gravel,
that the ancient Mesoamericans devised to thrive in their natural and lime; and … large trash dumps” (Parsons 2008:104).
and social landscapes. From the aquatic lifeway I discuss Nevertheless, Parsons ends on a positive note: “there are still sites
(Williams 2014, 2020, 2021) to the salt-making sites and tool and landscapes that remain sufficiently intact to justify new archae-
assemblages explored here, our discussion has taken us to many ological study.” But time is of the essence, since “another decade
different places and discovered exceptional cultural adaptations will probably bring an end to [most] archaeology in the
to distinct physical and social environments. One fact that Zumpango Region and throughout the Valley of Mexico”
should be taken into account in the study of archaeological (Parsons 2008:104).

22 Williams
The study of traditional salt-making and related topics outlined aspects of a lifeway—indeed, a forgotten heritage—that is essential
in this article should be a priority in order to salvage little-known for the construction of our collective memory.
RESUMEN
La sal común, o cloruro de sodio, siempre ha sido un recurso estratégico de En el centro de esta narrativa se encuentra una de las adaptaciones cultur-
primordial importancia en todo el mundo. En la Mesoamérica prehispánica, ales que los antiguos mesoamericanos idearon no solamente para sobrevivir,
la sal se utilizaba principalmente para el consumo humano, ya que la dieta sino para prosperar en sus paisajes naturales y sociales. Desde el modo de
nativa tenía poco cloruro o sodio, dos elementos químicos indispensables vida lacustre, discutido por este autor en otro lugar, hasta los paisajes y conjun-
para la salud y la nutrición humanas. También se utilizó sal como preserva- tos de artefactos de producción salinera explorados aquí, nuestra discusión nos
tivo para alimentos (pescado principalmente) y como mordiente para colo- ha llevado a muchos lugares diferentes y ha descubierto adaptaciones culturales
rantes en la industria textil. Aquí analizo las industrias tradicionales de la excepcionales a distintos entornos físicos y sociales. Un dato que debe tenerse
sal de Michoacán, Colima, Guerrero, la Cuenca de México y Puebla, pre- en cuenta en el estudio de los sitios de producción de sal es la amplia gama de
stando atención especial a los conjuntos de herramientas (assemblages) y artefactos que se utilizan actualmente y que están hechos de sustancias perece-
los sitios vinculados con la producción salinera en estas regiones de deras (madera, fibras, cestería, pieles de animales, etcétera), que dejan pocos o
Mesoamérica. Examino el papel de la sal en la cultura y la historia de la nulos restos arqueológicos. Es por esto que la observación etnográfica de con-
antigua ecúmene mesoamericana a través de la lente de la etnoarqueología textos sistémicos es esencial para lograr una comprensión lo más completa
y la etnohistoria. posible de las actividades relacionadas con la producción de sal.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks are due to the following colleagues for providing comments and/or 2003, 2015, 2018). This book was written while I was a Visiting Scholar
illustrations: Blas Castellón, Dan M. Healan, Jeffrey R. Parsons, Haydée at the Middle-American Research Institute of Tulane University (New
Quiroz, and Andrea Yankowski. The following institutions provided finan- Orleans). Thanks are due to Dan Healan and Will Andrews for their
cial support for my fieldwork in Michoacán: Foundation for the support during my stay at Tulane (1999), which was made possible by the
Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies (FAMSI); Universidad National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt) and the Fulbright
Michoacana de San Nicolás Hidalgo; and Universidad de Colima. Part of Exchange Program.
the data presented here is based on my book La sal de la tierra (Williams
REFERENCES
Andrews, Anthony P. Childe, Gordon
1983 Maya Salt Production and Trade. University of Arizona Press, 1956 A Short Introduction to Archaeology. Frederick Muller Ltd.,
Tucson. London.
1997 La sal entre los antiguos mayas: Alimentación y comercio. Clarke, David
Arqueología Mexicana 28:38–45. 1968 Analytical Archaeology. 2nd ed. Methuen and Co., Ltd., London.
Apenes, Ola De Leon, Jason P.
1944 The Primitive Salt Production of Lake Texcoco. Ethnos 9: 2009 Rethinking the Organization of Aztec Salt Production: A
25–40. Domestic Perspective. In Housework: Craft Production and Domestic
Beck, Anna S. Economy in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Kenneth G. Hirth, pp.
2018 Houses, Homes and Textiles: A Perspective from Assemblage 45–57. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological
Theory. Unpublished manuscript in possession of the author. Association 19. John Wiley and Sons, Malden.
Berdan, Frances F. De Lucia, Kristin, and Lisa Overholtzer
2014 Aztec Archaeology and Ethnohistory. Cambridge University Press, 2014 Everyday Action and the Rise and Decline of Ancient Polities:
Cambridge. Household Strategy and Political Change in Postclassic Xaltocan,
Binford, Lewis R. Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 25:441–458.
1983 In Pursuit of the Past: Decoding the Archaeological Record. Diamond, Jared
Thames and Hudson, New York. 2012 The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional
Burley, David, Karine Tache, and Margaret Purser Societies? Penguin Press, New York.
2011 An Archaeology of Salt Production in Fiji. Antiquity 85:187–200. Escobar, Armando M.
Byers, Douglas S. 1998 La sal como tributo en Michoacán a mediados del siglo dieciséis.
1967 The Region and its People. In The Prehistory of the Tehuacán In La sal en México, Vol. II, edited by Juan Carlos Reyes, pp. 161–186.
Valley, Vol. 1, edited by Douglas S. Byers, pp. 34–47. University of Universidad de Colima, Colima.
Texas Press, Austin. Good, Catharine
Castellón, Blas 1995 Salt Production and Commerce in Guerrero, Mexico: An
2014 La producción de panes de sal en el sur de Puebla. Arqueología Ethnographic Contribution to Historical Reconstruction. Ancient
Mexicana 125:4–79. Mesoamerica 6:1–14.
2016 Cuando la sal era una joya: Antropología, arqueología y Grave, Luis Alfonso
tecnología de la sal durante el Postclásico en Zapotitlán Salinas, 2019 Arqueología y etnohistoria de las salinas de Escuinapa, Sinaloa.
Puebla. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City. Arqueología Mexicana 158:2–57.
Charlton, Thomas H. Hamilakis, Yannis, and Andrew M. Jones
1969 Texcoco Fabric-Marked Pottery, Tleteles, and Salt Making. 2017 Archaeology and Assemblage. Cambridge Archaeological
American Antiquity 34(1):3–76. Journal 27:7–84.
1971 Texcoco Fabric-Marked Pottery and Salt Making: A Further Note. Hirth, Kenneth G.
American Antiquity 36(2):17–218. 2009 Craft Production, Household Diversification, and Domestic

Economy in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. In Housework: Craft Production contexto dinámico de la cultura material a través del tiempo, edited
and Domestic Economy in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Kenneth by Eduardo Williams, pp. 195–214. El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora.
G. Hirth, pp. 13–32. Archaeological Papers of the American Quiroz, Haydée
Anthropological Association 19. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken. 1995 La sal prieta: Una experiencia en la Costa Chica de Guerrero. In La
2016 The Aztec Economic World: Merchants and Markets in Ancient sal en México, edited by Juan C. Reyes, pp. 177–207. Universidad de
Mesoamerica. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Colima, Colima.
Hodder, Ian 1998 Las mujeres y los hombres de la sal: Un proceso de producción y
2012 Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationship between Humans reproducción cultural en la Costa Chica de Guerrero. Ph.D. disserta-
and Things. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford. tion, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City.
Ingold, Tim 2009 Un granito de sal: Su circulación y consumo en la Costa Chica de
2013 Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture. Guerrero. Nueva Antropología 22(70):7–86.
Routledge, Oxford. Renfrew, Colin, and Paul Bahn
Joyce, Rosemary, and Joshua Pollard 2000 Archaeology: Theory, Method, and Practice. Thames and Hudson,
2010 Archaeological Assemblages and Practices of Deposition. In London.
Oxford Handbook of Material Culture Studies, edited by Dan Hicks Reyes, Juan Carlos
and Mary Beaudry, pp. 291–312. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1995 Las salinas colimenses durante el período colonial, siglos dieciséis
Kurlansky, Mark a dieciocho. In La sal en México, edited by Juan C. Reyes, pp. 143–155.
2002 Salt: A World History. Walker and Company, New York. Universidad de Colima, Colima.
Martínez, Rafael, and Blas R. Castellón 2004 El tapextle salinero: Notas sobre su origen, distribución y var-
1995 Zapotitlán Salinas, Puebla: Una antigua comunidad de tradición iantes. In Bienes estratégicos del antiguo Occidente de México:
salinera. In La sal en México, Vol. 1, edited by Juan Carlos Reyes, Producción e intercambio, edited by Eduardo Williams, pp. 183–206.
pp. 53–74. Conaculta, Colima. El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora.
McKillop, Heather Reyes, Juan Carlos, and Rubén Leytón
1995 Underwater Archaeology, Salt Production, and Coastal Maya 1992 Cuyutlán: Una cultura salinera. La Palabra y el Hombre 81:
Trade in Stingray Lagoon, Belize. Latin American Antiquity 6:214–228. 21–146.
2002 Salt: White Gold of the Ancient Maya. University Press of Florida, Sanders, William T., Jeffrey R. Parsons, and Robert S. Santley
Gainesville. 1979 The Basin of Mexico: Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a
2019 Maya Salt Works. University Press of Florida, Gainesville. Civilization. Academic Press, New York.
McKillop, Heather, and Kazuo Aoyama Schiffer, Michael B.
2018 Salt and Marine Products in the Classic Maya Economy from 1988 The Structure of Archaeological Theory. American Antiquity 53:
Use-Wear Study of Stone Tools. Proceedings of the National 61–485.
Academy of Sciences 115:10948–10952. 1992 Technological Perspectives on Behavioral Change. University of
Mountjoy, Joseph B. Arizona Press, Tucson.
2000 Prehispanic Cultural Development along the Southern Coast of Sisson, Edward
West Mexico. In Greater Mesoamerica: The Archaeology of West 1973 Salt Production. In First Annual Report of the Coxcatlán Project.
and Northwest Mexico, edited by Michael S. Foster and Shirley Tehuacán Project Reports 3. R.S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology,
Gorenstein, pp. 81–106. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. Andover.
Murata, Satoru Weigand, Phil C., and Celia Weigand
2011 Maya Salters, Maya Potters: The Archaeology of Multicrafting on 1997 Salinas y salineros: Manufactura prehispánica de sal en el
Non-Residential Mounds at Wits Cah Ak’al, Belize. Ph.D. dissertation, Occidente de México. Antropología en Jalisco: Una Visión Actual 9:
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, Boston. 5–23.
Noguera, Eduardo Williams, Eduardo
1975 Identificación de una saladera. Anales de Antropología 12:17–151. 1999 The Ethnoarchaeology of Salt Production at Lake Cuitzeo,
Parsons, Jeffrey R. Michoacán, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 10:400–414.
1994 Late Postclassic Salt Production and Consumption in the Basin of 2002 Salt Production in the Coastal Area of Michoacán, Mexico:
Mexico. In Economies and Polities in the Aztec Realm, edited by Mary An Ethnoarchaeological Study. Ancient Mesoamerica 13:
G. Hodge and Michael E. Smith, pp. 257–290. Studies on Culture and 237–253.
Society 6. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of 2003 La sal de la tierra: Etnoarqueología de la producción salinera en
New York, Albany. el occidente de México. El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora, and
1996 Tequesquite and Huauhtle: Rethinking the Prehispanic Secretaría de Cultura de Jalisco, Guadalajara.
Productivity of Lake Texcoco-Xaltocan-Zumpango. In Arqueología 2010 Salt Production and Trade in Ancient Mesoamerica. In
mesoamericana: Homenaje a William T. Sanders, edited by Alba G. Pre-Columbian Foodways: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food,
Mastache, Jeffrey R. Parsons, Robert S. Santley, and Mari Carmen Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by John E.
Serra, pp. 439–459. Instituto Nacional de Arqueología e Historia / Staller and Michael D. Carrasco, pp. 175–190. Springer Science and
Arqueología Mexicana, Mexico City. Business Media, New York.
2001 The Last Saltmakers of Nexquipayac, Mexico: An Archaeological 2014 La gente del agua: Etnoarqueología del modo de vida lacustre en
Ethnography. Anthropological Papers 92. Museum of Anthropology, Michoacán. El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 2015 The Salt of the Earth: Ethnoarchaeology of Salt Production in
2008 Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in the Northwestern Valley of Michoacán, Western Mexico. BAR International Series 2725.
Mexico: The Zumpango Region. Museum of Anthropology Memoirs Archaeopress, Oxford.
45. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 2018 La sal de la tierra: Etnoarqueología de la producción salinera en
2011 El “nicho pastoral” en la Mesoamérica prehispánica: ¿Cómo el occidente de México. 2nd ed. El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora, and
funcionó una civilización sin ganado domesticado? In Mesoamérica: Fideicomiso Teixidor, Mexico City.
Debates y perspectivas, edited by Eduardo Williams, Magdalena 2020 Ancient West Mexico in the Mesoamerican Ecumene.
García Sánchez, Phil C. Weigand, and Manuel Gándara, pp. Archaeopress Pre-Columbian Archaeology 12. Archaeopress, Oxford
221–244. El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora. 2021 Aquatic Adaptations in Mesoamerica: Subsistence Activities in
2019 Remembering Archaeological Work in Mexico and Peru. Museum Ethnoarchaeological Perspective. Archaeopress, Oxford. In press.
of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Yankowski, Andrea
Parsons, Mary H. 2019 Salt Making and Pottery Production: Community Craft
2005 El hilado de fibra de maguey en El Mezquital: Perspectivas Specialization in Alburquerque, Bohol, Philippines. Ethnoarchaeology
etnográficas e implicaciones arqueológicas. In Etnoarqueología: El 11:134–154.

中美洲制盐

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

中美洲制盐

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

中美洲制盐

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ancient Mesoamerica, 34 (2023), 1–23

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

SALT-MAKING IN MESOAMERICA: PRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION Lubbock, one of the pioneers of British archaeology, first used

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

The Coast of Colima

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

Activity Tool Feature Archaeological Markers Comments

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

The Basin of Mexico

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000031 Published online by Cambridge University Press

You might also like