Settling the Salinaria? Evaluating Site Location Patterns of Iron Age and Roman Salt Production in Northern Gaul

Abstract

Throughout history, salt was a highly sought-after commodity in society that played an essential role in cooking, craft and ritual activities. From the beginning of the twentieth century, pré- and early historical salt production sites have been discovered in the coastal areas of northern Gaul. This paper provides an overview of old and newly discovered salt production sites along the Belgian, French and Dutch coastal wetlands and discusses their geographical distribution and development from the early Iron Age until the late Roman period in northern Gaul. Indeed, in these rich ecological diverse landscapes, distinct salt production landscapes emerged that shifted in location through time due to the landscape, the socio-economic and socio-political context and the application of new production mechanisms. The succession of these production areas was closely linked to local elites who seem to have benefitted the most from the economic output and were either directly or indirectly involved in the production process. Both during the late Iron Age as well as in Roman times, technological developments pushed salt production in northern Gaul to unprecedented levels to meet the ever increasing local and regional salt demand.KeywordsSalt productionNorthern GaulProductive landscapesRomanIron Age