An Ethnoarchaeological Interpretation of the Salt Life, A.D. 1200

Abstract

This chapter narratively reconstructs the salt-making process in the Mississippian period using archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic data and information. The author proposes that salt was an everyday substance for many prehistoric southeastern peoples. Her claim is grounded in biological, archaeological, ethnohistoric, and ethnographic evidence from cultures around the world who maintain that salt was important to many ancient peoples for their physical, spiritual, and social well-being. The author argues that her narrative approach, as with any useful interpretive tool, is based on data from excavations and analysis of artifacts, and that it unites cultural ideals about family, religion, housing, subsistence, reproduction, and other elements of daily life that are embedded within not only salt production and consumption but also many other practices.