Today, most people in the world have easy access to common salt (sodium chloride), so few realize the great significance of this chemical compound in world history. Carnivorous animals and human beings who get their food primarily through hunting and fishing do not need to add salt to their diet, whereas plant-eating animals and vegetarian people must add sodium chloride to their food. Mesoamerica was the only civilization of the ancient world that did not incorporate domestic animals into its diet. This fact made salt making one of the most vital activities, and salt became a strategic resource. Apart from its role in the diet, huge amounts of salt were required for food preservation and for textile dying, among other uses.
Saltworks located in the extensive littorals were always very important, because they may have contributed salt of superior quality and in greater amounts than that produced inland. On the Atlantic coast, the saltworks in Celestún, Yucatán, for example, were among the most productive in the entire Maya area, although there were many others that produced salt at the local level; for instance, Stingray Lagoon in Belize. Anthony P. Andrews (Maya Salt Production and Trade, 1983) stated that the principal salt source in Mesoamerica, in both past and present times, has been the coast of Yucatán, where salt is still obtained by solar evaporation of water from an extensive system of pools. Many saltworks were found in the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, and during historical times, there were small solar saltworks in several islands off the Yucatán coast as well. Archaeological evidence shows that the exploitation of these and other saltworks in Yucatán goes back to the Late Formative period (ca. 300 BC–AD 300).
Sodium chloride is unique among the strategic resources studied by archaeologists, because salt is usually not preserved in the archaeological record. In the case of the saltworks studied by Heather McKillop in the Caribbean littoral of Belize, sea-level rise in recent centuries has obliterated most of the ancient salt-making sites. At the same time, however, the marine environment preserved part of the material culture associated with salt production, including wooden structures and many artifacts. McKillop analyzed the structures, pottery, and other preserved materials to evaluate the scale, intensity, and organization of the salt industry and the role of this strategic resource in Classic Maya domestic and political economies.
Maya Salt Works is an important and welcome addition to a small but growing literature about salt making in Mesoamerica. This book brings up to date the discussion about many aspects of salt production, trade, and consumption in the Maya area, including the following: (1) the economics of salt production and use by the Maya; (2) the unique challenges of excavating underwater salt-making sites; (3) the technological aspects of salt making, such as specialized pottery types; (4) the infrastructure of salt production, especially the wooden structures; (5) labor, production, and identity viewed through salt as a strategic commodity; (6) markets, trade, and distribution of salt and other strategic commodities (primarily cacao and salted fish); and, (7) salt as a social, commercial, and political agent in Maya civilization.
The case study discussed here is the Paynes Creek salt-production area on the coast of southern Belize. McKillop evaluates the scale and social organization of production at this location during the Classic period, as well as its impact on regional trade networks, in particular the nearby inland populations.
There are some 100 salt-making sites in the Paynes Creek area, and the wooden structures documented in the excavations indicate a high level of production. Indeed, if all the locations were in production at the same time, they would have been able to provide a considerable amount of salt. After the downfall of Maya civilization at the end of the Classic period (ca. AD 900), however, many of the sites that relied on salt from the Paynes Creek area ceased to exist, and the salt industry disappeared.
This book is important because it greatly expands our knowledge about salt production in Mesoamerica, in particular the Maya area. By documenting the material culture—artifacts and features—preserved underwater, McKillop offers a new perspective on an indispensable component of Maya culture. In this book, salt is revealed as a “mover and shaker” of ancient Maya society. The social functions of salt were, and still are, multifaceted, wide ranging, and everlasting. According to McKillop, “As a basic biological necessity, as a flavor enhancer, as a food preservative, and as a currency equivalent, salt . . . was a common commodity in the ancient Maya economy” (p. 179). Although we tend to think that white table salt is the most desirable outcome of the salt-making process, McKillop argues that in the case under study “salt workers adjusted the length and intensity of boiling, the soil or sediment selected for enriching the brine . . . and whether fresh water or sea water was filtered through the soil in the enrichment process” (p. 191) to alter the chemical composition of the salt. This may seem surprising, but it makes sense if salt was being produced not for household consumption but instead for making salt loaves used as exchange units and for salting fish as part of a well-developed fishing industry that functioned within a widespread and complex trade structure.
To sum up, Maya Salt Works is strongly recommended because it explores different aspects of Maya culture and economy that had been ignored until recent years. The popular interest in pyramids, tombs, palaces, and royal dynasties has prevailed for a long time, ignoring the more mundane—but no less critical—aspects of life, such as salt production, trade, and consumption. McKillop's study contributes to shifting the focus of attention toward previously neglected aspects of Maya civilization.
