This book is an English translation of the author's book in Spanish, titled La sal de la tierra: Etnoarqueología de la producción salinera en el occidente de México and published in Mexico in 2003. The English version is an updated edition, so new information is included. The book is divided into six chapters and includes a section of references. The chapters include an introduction with a discussion of the importance of salt for prehispanic western Mexico, a region with relevant sites that has been overlooked by researchers. The author also offers a discussion of the role of salt in human life and its research importance.
Chapter 2 contains a discussion of salt production around the world, focusing specifically on various Mexican examples, such as the Basin of Mexico, Oaxaca, Puebla, and the Maya area. This chapter offers ethnoarchaeological examples of salt production in the Basin of Mexico. The third chapter discusses the general geographic and cultural background of western Mexico, providing a good synthesis of the region's occupation from the first inhabitants to modern times. I was surprised that the work of Christopher Beekman, an archaeologist who has done fieldwork in the last two decades in the region, was not cited (e.g., Beekman, Journal of Archaeological Research 18(1):41–109; Beekman in Nichols and Pool, eds., Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology).
The fourth chapter is an excellent data set on the production of salt in the Tarascan area and its hinterland. It offers information on salt production in prehispanic times and ethnographic examples from Lake Cuitzeo Basin, the Michoacán coast, Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, and Guerrero. The author's research has documented two main methods of salt production: sal cocida (boiling brine to produce crystallized salt) and sal solar (evaporation of brine in pans under the sun). The remains left by salt production when boiling brine in clay vessels are impressive. These vessels were made to be broken, leaving a large amount of material remains on the ground and providing clues about the specialization of particular sites. Arroyo (Anales de la Academia de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala 74:183–212) and McKillop (Salt: White Gold of the Ancient Maya, 2002) have documented similar techniques for the Pacific coast of Guatemala as early as the Early Preclassic and for the coast of Belize in the Classic period.
This chapter also includes descriptions of ancient and modern salt-making techniques, and discussion of the importance of salt as an exchange product. The author outlines three levels of salt production in ancient Michoacán: (1) places where enough salt was produced and the surplus was exported, (2) others that produced only enough for consumption, and (3) those where production was insufficient for local needs and had to be supplemented with salt imported from other areas of Michoacán. An extensive inventory of ethnographic examples from throughout Michoacán are presented, illustrating what the author calls a “salt-making landscape” because of the prints and remains left by this activity on the ground. The ethnographic cases studied by Williams have shed light on the capability of prehispanic and colonial networks involved in the production and exchange of salt in Michoacán, as well as their salt-making techniques.
The author's careful documentation of ancient salt making practices helps to explain features found in the archaeological record elsewhere. In particular, it called my attention to the round features made of pottery at the sites of Cerritos Colorado and La Motita, where he cites the finding of cylindrical pits with a covering wall made of sherds. During a Vanderbilt University project directed by Arthur A. Demarest, we found similar examples at the Early Preclassic site of El Carmen in El Salvador, over 1,500 km south of Michoacán. His observations of ethnographic and ethnohistorical documentation of salt production indicate diverse methodologies for salt exploitation. This chapter documents specialization in the extraction, evaporation, processing, and distribution of salt. Such specialized activity impacted the development of the Tarascan Empire, as seen in the following chapter. A longer version of this chapter by Williams appeared last year with the title Etnoarqueología de la producción de sal en la costa de Michoacán, published by El Colegio de Michoacán, Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos, in Mexico.
Chapter 5 examines de role of salt in the expansion of the Tarascan Empire. The author uses archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic data to document the role of salt and other goods in trade and tribute. More than salt as an individual product, it was the trade network controlled by the Tarascan Empire that contributed to its expansion. This included the control of goods such as obsidian, metals, and turquoise, which were part of the strategic structure of the state. Williams offers an estimate of salt consumption in the core area of the Tarascan territory, demonstrating the need to import this product from remote areas. He argues that controlling this trade was fundamental for the expansion of the empire, more likely in combination with other goods. The last chapter offers conclusions and briefly refers to comparative examples in China, Africa, and other areas in Mesoamerica.
The subject of this book is interdisciplinary, integrating archaeological data, ethnographic work, and ethnohistorical sources. Salt is a product of great importance in ancient times, as it was used to preserve foods to last for some time. Salt is found in specific locations and is not available everywhere, making it an important trade product throughout Mesoamerica. Eduardo Williams's book illustrates the long history of salt production in the region in a coherent way, and the documentation of ethnographic examples provides data for comparisons with the archaeological record anywhere in the world where salt production is documented.
