Salt Production, Distribution and Use in the British Iron Age

Abstract

The study of salt during British prehistory has experienced an awakening during the past 40 years led in large measure by the work of Dr Elaine Morris of Southampton University. The earliest salt production in Britain using an industrial ceramic known as briquetage is now firmly dated to the Middle Bronze Age and its use extends to the early Roman period. While prehistoric salt production in Lincolnshire was addressed in 2001 by Lane and Morris, other regional production areas have not had similar modern syntheses. This thesis will explore the evidence for the production of salt in the coastal regions of Essex, along the south coast and at the Droitwich salt springs in the prehistoric period. The evidence for the distribution of salt from Essex, the south coast and the salt springs of Droitwich and Cheshire will be reviewed based upon discussion of briquetage finds. Morris' Specific Salt Container Index (SSCI) will be utilised to support this analysis. The models for and implications of salt distribution networks will be considered. A more speculative discussion of non-archaeologically visible distribution will also be presented. Four case studies comparing Iron Age sites in salt producing and salt using regions are included to establish the relative presence of salt evidence in the archaeological record and its value, if any, as a social status discriminator. Finally, information is presented on how salt may have been used in the Iron Age. While food preservation is the usage most commonly cited by archaeologists for this mineral, it would have had been used in numerous other ways, including usage in animal diets, medicine and metallurgy. The social and ritual uses of salt will also be discussed. A gazetteer and bibliography of 519 Bronze and Iron Age briquetage find sites is included as a supplemental database.