History of salt

espanolEste trabajo muestra tos diferentes estudios sobre las explotaciones de sal en el periodo historico que abarca desde la Protohistoria hasta la epoca romana bajoimperial en el ambito peninsular. Se trata de una etapa de transicion entre la extraccion de sal por ignicion y el uso de balsas de insolacion. Se indica la dificultad existente en la actualidad para conocer el paso de un proceso tecnologico a otro, ante la falta de excavaciones arqueologicas en los diferentes yacimientos de produccion. EnglishThis paper explains the different studies on historical salt exploitation in the lberian Peninsula from protohistory to the Roman imperial period. This is a transitional period between the extraction of salt by boiling and the use of evaporation ponds. lt indicates the difficulties in ascertaining the exact moment when one process is replaced by another, dueto the lack of archaeological excavations at the different production sites.

espanolEste trabajo es un avance sobre los vestigios de una salina romana para la extraccion de este producto mediante insolacion que ha sido localizada en el termino municipal de Prado del Rey (Cadiz). El lugar esta muy proximo al yacimiento arqueologico de Cabeza de Hortales, identificado con la ciudad estipendiaria de Iptuci, en la antigua demarcacion provincial romana del Conventus Gaditanus. A partir del periodo romano, datos arqueologicos y fuentes documentales confirman la continua explotacion de las salmueras que tenian su origen en esta area. La explotacion de los manantiales salinos de esta region se ha mantenido en uso hasta epoca contemporanea. EnglishThis paper is a preliminary study on the remains of a Roman saltworks where salt was obtained through the evaporation of salt water by the sun and which has been located in the district of Prado del Rey (Cadiz). The place is very close to the archaeological site of Cabeza de Hortales, identified with the city of Iptuci, in ...

The idea for this volume originated with Prof. Claire Smith, an anthropological archaeologist from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, who was twice elected President of the World Archaeological Congress (2003–2014). Prof. Smith played a pivotal role in organizing the first-ever session on salt archaeology at the 7th World Archaeological Congress (WAC) (Dead Sea, Jordan, 2013), providing various forms of support, including financial assistance. Building on this success, she proposed a similar session for WAC 9 in Prague in 2022. The moderators of that session, which served as the foundation for this book, were Paul Eubanks and Marius Alexianu. Additionally, as the editor of the comprehensive Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology (2020), Prof. Smith recognized the significance of salt archae- ology and accepted a series of entries dedicated to the subject for publication.

This paper explores the metaphors of salt and light in Matthew 5:14-16 through the lens of the Divine Council worldview and cosmic conflict. It contends that these metaphors are not primarily calls to personal morality but invitations to participate in a spiritual battle that spans both earthly and unseen realms. By situating the Sermon on the Mount within the context of covenant faithfulness and the restoration of divine authority, the paper reinterprets Jesus’ teaching as a summons to active engagement in God’s cosmic mission. The study highlights how the early Church’s consuming vision of the kingdom empowered believers to confront spiritual darkness and reclaim the nations for God. It argues that the metaphors of salt and light demand sacrificial love, communal service, and the courageous assertion of Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness. Furthermore, the paper brings the concept of the unseen realm and the divine council into modern theological discourse, challenging individualistic or moralistic interpretations. Ultimately, it calls Christians to embrace their identity as God’s earthly representatives and to participate wholeheartedly in the restoration of all nations, recapturing the single-minded devotion of the early Church. This approach seeks to revitalize Christian practice and identity by rooting them in biblical cosmology and eschatology.

Partendo dal rinvenimento di un contratto del 1554 per la fusione e messa in opera di alcune campane (perdute) a Vigo di Cadore si è voluto approfondire il lavoro dei fonditori di campane attivi in Cadore tra Cinque e Seicento.
I documenti e le poche firme sui manufatti ancora esistenti parlano di artigiani udinesi (gli Aldrici) ma anche di borgognoni e francesi in generale (de Molen)

We present a unified transmission physics framework that bridges optical lithophane geometry to electromagnetic structured water systems. Through systematic analysis of transmission distance (TD) relationships in lithophane manufacturing, we derive predictive equations for optimal salt concentrations in structured water formation. The framework demonstrates that the "4th octave logic" governing lithophane image clarity directly translates to electromagnetic domain organization in aqueous solutions via the scaling law f * ≈ 100/T D. Experimental validation confirms that lithophane-derived predictions yield 97% frequency stability at 0.5 teaspoons per liter salt concentration, with observable phi-spiral organization upon freezing. This cross-domain analog methodology provides a reproducible protocol enabling others to create structured water through geometric transmission principles rather than empirical optimization. The work establishes foundational connections between optical manufacturing techniques and aqueous electromagnetic systems, with implications for underwater communications, biomedical applications, and materials science.

Il meeting si svilupperà in 3 sessioni. Nella prima sessione si parlerà del sale nella storia
dell’umanità e nell’alimentazione. Nella seconda sessione parleremo del rischio cardiovascolare
con particolare riferimento all’ipertensione arteriosa, alla dislipidemia, all’obesità. Nella terza
sessione ci occuperemo del paziente anziano, delle vaccinazioni e del monitoraggio glicemico.

Pottery is the main category of funerary inventory discovered in the Roman necropolises of Apulum. A series of vessels can be classified in the category of fine ceramics. Of
these, sixteen are glazed vessels. The artifacts have been discovered both, in the graves and
also outside them, coming from destroyed graves or from a series of rituals performed periodically by the descendants for the dead. It is also remarkable that a large part of the glazed
vessels discovered in Apulum have technological defects.

This book presents places, sites and people that were associated with, and activities of, slave trade in Zambia. By exploring slave trade activities and linking the places, sites and people that were involved, the routes, nature and dimensions that slave trade took in Zambia are discussed and mapped out.

This book presents places, sites and people that were associated with, and activities
of, slave trade in Zambia. By exploring slave trade activities and linking the places,
sites and people that were involved, the routes, nature and dimensions that slave trade
took in Zambia are discussed and mapped out. To situate why and how an inquiry into
this history of slave trade in Zambia was conducted, this chapter presents the
background, area of study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, rationale
and operational definitions of terms that informed the study.

Karl Von Clausewitz famously articulated that war is an extension of political policy, highlighting the pivotal role of violence in human history. Historical evidence shows that warfare has been a strategy employed by groups to secure essential resources vital for survival and reproduction. Among these, "common salt" holds a unique position, on par with water, historically influencing political structures and even leading to slavery and conflict.

This report presents the results of the preventive archaeological investigations carried out on the route of the road that crosses the Băile Figa site from east to west and is to be paved. The rescue excavations were carried out in 2020. As a result of the research, two sections were opened/extended: section XXII surveyed in 2009 was extended to the north and south, and a new section was opened on the road route, named
S.XXIV. The research has brought to light the traces of disturbed wooden structures, also observed throughout the site area, which may be related to the exploitation of salt in the Late Bronze Age.
A specific find is a probably circular-oval ditch, with a mixed fill with a lot of burning and several fragments of pottery, mostly atypical, have come to the surface. The most interesting object is a bowl fragment having a slip with much graphite.

Karl Von Clausewitz famously articulated that war is an extension of political policy, highlighting the pivotal role of violence in human history. Historical evidence shows that warfare has been a strategy employed by groups to secure essential resources vital for survival and reproduction. Among these, "common salt" holds a unique position, on par with water, historically influencing political structures and even leading to slavery and conflict.

Con l'annessione di Zante allo stato veneziano, al termine della prima guerra veneto-ottomana (trattato dell'anno 1484) 1 , viene istituito il Regimen 2 e, tra le varie unità operative, quelle della Camera fiscale e della Dogana al suo interno. Con gli inviti degli anni 1485, 1487 e 1489, la popolazione dell'isola aumenta con conseguente necessità di definire il patrimonio immobiliare degli abitanti precedenti e di quelli nuovi, nonché degli "stradiotti" 3 , e quindi studiare e stabilire i loro obblighi fiscali 4 . 1

Coperta IV: a -Imagine aeriană cu săpăturile efectuate în incinta Spitalului Județean Constanța (bulevardul Tomis, nr. 145, amplasamentul viitorului spital "Mama și Copilul"). Foto Petre Colțeanu -MINAC b -Imagine aeriană din timpul cercetărilor efectuate în situl arheologic din zona carierei fabricii de ciment de la Medgidia ("Medgidia Elenistic 2"). Foto Petre Colțeanu -MINAC

This study investigates the reasons that led the central powers of states to locate privileged manufactories in specific areas, highlighting the role of strategic choices in their establishment.
Once operational, these manufactories functioned as complex ecosystems where raw materials, machinery, workers, and supervisory bodies interacted with one another and with the surrounding environment. However, institutional decisions and the practical management of the manufactories often generated challenges on multiple levels, exposing a gap between the central authority's aspirations and the actual conduct of productive activities.
In some cases, the challenges arising from the characteristics of the territory forced governments to reconsider their decisions, adopting solutions such as the permanent closure of certain manufactories, the decentralization of specific activities, or, in extreme cases, the complete relocation of the production site.
Through the case studies of the salt manufactory of Saline-les-Bain in France and the royal dyeing works of Venaria Reale in the Kingdom of Sardinia, this analysis explores the role of spatial and environmental variables in the establishment and management of Royal Manufactories. By adopting a bottom-up approach, it seeks to demonstrate how the interaction between the internal ecosystem of the manufactories and practical challenges influenced the life cycle of these productive institutions.

基于上海的实地观察和非正式访谈，借助卡斯特尔与Portes的非正式经济理论框架，本文主张：上海的“黑车”实际上是正规出租车服务之外的非正式经济或非正规就业的重要组成部分，它更多的是社会经济地位低下、自我发展机会微弱的外来农民工、本地下岗职工在大都市生存和发展的应对策略和经济活动方式。作为社会结构中占据支配地位的强大力量，政府和官方主流媒体比较成功地把“黑车”司机及其服务污名化为麻烦制造者、越轨和失范，并加以压制和打击。这种治理术，尤其是其中的钓鱼执法，在缺乏科学调查研究的前提下，在供给者和消费者的声音并没有得到充分表达的情况下，把正式经济、非正式经济、犯罪经济之间彼此转化和变通的灵活关系机械地视为非此即彼、非白即黑的二元对立关系，既挤压了这些弱势群体生存和发展的空间，又极大伤害了民间社会的活力和基础——互助互济与互信。在互联网专车与共享经济的背景下，这一发现的政策意涵在于，决策者、官员和执法者接纳和认可“黑车”，远比将之非法化并加以整治和打击更有意义、更可取。

La región salinera ubicada en la Mixteca poblana está conformada por seis comunidades pertenecientes a cuatro municipios: Chila y Ocotlán pertenecientes a Chila de la Sal; Tlaxcuapan en Piaxtla; Xicotlán en el municipio del mismo nombre; así como Texcala y Zapotitlán Salinas en el municipio con este último nombre. Pese a que, de acuerdo con datos arqueológicos, estas comunidades producen el mineral desde hace aproximadamente dos mil años, no figuran oficialmente como una región productora de sal. En la actualidad, estos productores, todos ellos comuneros o ejidatarios, se encuentran condicionados a la intermediación de los acaparadores para colocar su producto en los mercados regionales, además de enfrentar una serie de problemáticas relacionadas con la restricción de los mercados, las faltas de apoyo y la migración. Frente a este escenario, los salineros han desarrollado estrategias organizativas que van desde la conservación medioambiental hasta la creación de cooperativas.

Este escrito da cuenta de estos procesos organizativos, así como de la importancia que la actividad y el paisaje salinero posee en la mixteca, lo que representa un patrimonio cultural en la medida que territorio y actividad humana se han combinado a través de los siglos conformando una cultura y una identidad particular.

Partiendo de la hipótesis, formulada en un artículo anterior, de identificar la actual localidad de Medinaceli (provincia de Soria) con la ciudad romana de Segontia Lanca, en este artículo vamos a estudiar el devenir histórico de esta ciudad entre el año 589, en que es citada por primera vez en las fuentes documentales hispanovisigodas, y el año 1121, cuando se funda el obispado de Sigüenza. Para ello, vamos a analizar las fuentes documentales e históricas que tratan este amplio periodo de más de cinco siglos.
In a previous article we formulated the hypothesis of identifying the current town of Medinaceli (province of Soria) with the ancient roman city of Segontia Lanca. In this article we Will delve into the history of this city from the year 589, it is first mention in Hispano-Visigothic documents, until the year 1121, when the bishopric of Sigüenza is founded. To do this, we are going to analyze the documentary and historical sources that deal with this period of more than five centuries.

Garam merupakan sumber elektrolit dan iodium yang sangat penting bagi tubuh manusia. Garam konsumsi yang akan beredar ke masyarakat harus memenuhi Standar Nasional Indonesia (SNI). Penjaminan kualitas garam konsumsi beriodium dapat dilakukan dengan analisis kimia. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kesesuaian standar mutu garam konsumsi beriodium yang akan diedarkan ke masyarakat dengan SNI. Metode penelitian ini berdasarkan SNI 3556:2016 antara lain: (1) Analisis kadar air dengan gravimetri; (2) Analisis bagian yang tidak larut dalam air; (3) Kadar NaCl dengan argentometri; (4) Kadar KIO3 dengan iodometri; (5) Analisis cemaran logam dengan flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Penelitian ini dilakukan pada tiga bentuk garam yaitu garam kasar, garam halus, dan garam briket. Kadar air ketiga garam memenuhi syarat dengan nilai di bawah 7%. Bagian yang tidak larut pada garam kasar memenuhi syarat, sedangkan garam halus dan garam briket tidak memenuhi syarat dengan nilai di atas 0,5%. Kadar NaCl ketiga garam tidak memenuhi syarat minimal SNI yaitu 94%. Kadar KIO3 garam kasar tidak memenuhi syarat minimal SNI yaitu 30 mg/kg, sedangkan garam kasar dan briket memenuhi syarat. Cemaran logam Pb dan Cd memenuhi syarat dengan nilai di bawah 10 mg/kg dan 0,5 mg/kg.

The aim of this contribution is to describe the burial context of the Fettered
Man, which was found in the Gulf of Baratti near Populonia in the early days of November 2016 by a team from the Università degli Studi di Milano, under the scientific direction of Giorgio Baratti. Findings of means of constraint in formal burials are rare in ancient necropolises and have been unique to Etruscan culture until now. The (late) Archaic burial in Populonia is comparable to some graves within Greek necropolises,
which have mostly been interpreted as slave burials. As for the fetters, the
same type was found in the necropolis of Akanthos, in an isolated burial in Martigues, and also in votive contexts. A broader reflection on the use of such tools of constriction in antiquity – with the use of both iconographical and historiographical sources – can help to understand what the Fettered Man was subjected to. Fetters around the ankles generally reflect a form of punishment which can be interpreted as being equivalent to strong subordination in ancient times. Shackles led to the further loss of freedom and movement of an individual probably already belonging to the margins of society. To be buried with shackles could either reflect a lack of care,
or more likely the need and will to manifest the condition of subordination, even in the
afterlife.

Nel 1270, Bologna e Venezia si scontrarono per il controllo delle saline di Cervia. Quella che può essere chiamata “Guerra del sale”, fu un conflitto che interessò tutta la Romagna e il suo commercio annonario. In quegli anni, la politica di potenza bolognese raggiunse il suo culmine, mentre Venezia stava costituendo il suo monopolio economico sull’Adriatico. La guerra venne combattuta in uno dei gli assi viari più importanti della regione, il Primaro e lo scontro anfibio fu tutto a vantaggio dei veneziani. Solo nel 1271 bolognesi e ravennati riuscirono a sconfiggere gli avversari ma la vittoria si rivelò effimera. Nel 1273, logorati da una lunga carestia e dalla concorrenza tra le fazioni dei Geremei dei Lambertazzi, Bologna si arrese. Fu la fine del suo dominio sulla Romagna e l’inizio della lotta tra partiti che sarebbe terminata con la vittoria della parte geremea.

In the Qing Dynasty, the mountain tax and the rent formed the system of property rights in the Fujian mountain land and forestry. The mountain landlord determined the shares through the mountain tax. By paying the mountain rent, the tenant farmers obtained the long-term management rights, which could be transferred by subcontracting the mountain rent. Thus, the basis of property rights was changed from "border" to "share", the key of property rights from exclusivity to internal arrangement, forming the common property. This dialectical movement between differentiation and integration, and between exclusivity and inclusivity, lowered the barriers to entry, coordinated multiple interests, and thus promoted the development of social and forest economies in mountain areas.

Scandinavian raiders, or vikings if one prefers, suddenly started to appear around the coasts of western Europe in the late eighth century and in the early decades of the ninth century. 2 The reasons for this sudden eruption have long been discussed and debated by scholars without any real consensus having ever been reached. In this thesis I will not add anything of significance to this debate regarding, to use Peter Sawyer's phrase, 'The causes of the Viking Age'; 3 the emphasis throughout will be on trying to understand in a Rankean sense what actually happened rather than speculation of why it happened, a question which is ultimately unanswerable. In the British Isles the first raids were pretty small although usually brutal affairs, such as that on the monastery of Lindisfarne in Northumberland in 793 and on the monastery of Iona in 795. The Northmen were to make their presence felt all over Europe for the next two hundred years. In the early years their numbers were few and the aim seems to have been simply to plunder. In later years, as the size of their fleets and armies grew, trying to grab land to exploit and settle became 1 Dr Stephen M. Lewis undertook and defended his doctoral thesis entitled Vikings in Aquitaine and their connections, ninth to early eleventh centuries at the Université de Caen Normandie under the direction of Pierre Bauduin, it is available online at and at . He is a member of the Centre de recherches archéologiques et historiques anciennes et médiévales (CRAHAM) at the Université de Caen Normandie, and a member of the research centre for Histoire, civilisation, archéologie et art des mondes anciens et médiévaux (AUSONIUS) at the Université Bordeaux Montaigne. His research interests include the 'vikings' in Aquitaine and elsewhere in Western Europe and trans-Pyrenean matters in the early medieval period. 2 This paper is extracted from Chapter 2 of my Ph.D thesis as referenced above. An earlier, shorter and somewhat different version of this chapter/paper was published as S. M. Lewis, 'Salt and the earliest Scandinavian raids in France: Was there a connection? ', Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, 12 (2016), pp. 103-36. This chapter/paper contains much of interest that was not in the earlier paper. 3 P. H. Sawyer, 'The causes of the Viking Age', in R. T. Farrell (ed.), The Vikings (London and Chichester, 1982), pp. 1-7. There is an abundant literature on this issue going back well over a hundred years.

Praktikum ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kadar ion klorida (Cl⁻) dalam sampel menggunakan metode titrasi argentometri Mohr yang dikaji melalui pendekatan STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). Proses titrasi melibatkan reaksi antara ion perak (Ag⁺) dengan ion klorida yang menghasilkan endapan AgCl, dan titik akhir ditentukan melalui pembentukan endapan Ag₂CrO₄ berwarna merah kecoklatan dengan bantuan indikator kalium kromat. Dalam aspek teknologi dan rekayasa, penggunaan buret digital, pH meter, serta sensor warna dan perangkat lunak analisis meningkatkan akurasi serta efisiensi titrasi. Pendekatan STEAM memperkaya pemahaman konsep melalui integrasi visualisasi warna dan analisis matematis yang mendalam terhadap volume, konsentrasi, dan kesalahan titrasi. Hasil praktikum menunjukkan bahwa ketelitian dalam penambahan titran dan pengendalian kondisi reaksi sangat berpengaruh terhadap validitas data, sehingga metode Mohr efektif untuk analisis ion klorida dalam berbagai aplikasi laboratorium.

Praktikum ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kadar ion klorida (Cl⁻) dalam sampel menggunakan metode titrasi argentometri Mohr yang dikaji melalui pendekatan STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). Proses titrasi melibatkan reaksi antara ion perak (Ag⁺) dengan ion klorida yang menghasilkan endapan AgCl, dan titik akhir ditentukan melalui pembentukan endapan Ag₂CrO₄ berwarna merah kecoklatan dengan bantuan indikator kalium kromat. Dalam aspek teknologi dan rekayasa, penggunaan buret digital, pH meter, serta sensor warna dan perangkat lunak analisis meningkatkan akurasi serta efisiensi titrasi. Pendekatan STEAM memperkaya pemahaman konsep melalui integrasi visualisasi warna dan analisis matematis yang mendalam terhadap volume, konsentrasi, dan kesalahan titrasi. Hasil praktikum menunjukkan bahwa ketelitian dalam penambahan titran dan pengendalian kondisi reaksi sangat berpengaruh terhadap validitas data, sehingga metode Mohr efektif untuk analisis ion klorida dalam berbagai aplikasi laboratorium.

For a long time, historical research assumed that the lower nobility in German-speaking countries formed a closed class towards the end of the High Middle Ages. This idea of a “closure of the knightly estate” (“Abschließung des Ritterstandes”) has been the basis of numerous works on the history of the nobility and society as such, but has increasingly been criticised in recent times. Thus this powerful paradigm must be scrutinised. On the one hand, the thesis of a closure is based on a series of royal and imperial decrees from the 12th and 13th centuries, and thus has its roots in an attempt to gain normative control of the emerging lower nobility. On the other hand, this lower nobility was a fluid entity for centuries, which consolidated and erected barriers slowly and in various stages of development. In view of this social dynamic, the idea of an enclosure of the knightly estate in the Middle Ages is no longer tenable.

Les darreres intervencions arqueològiques dutes a terme al llarg del 2012 i 2013 al jaciment de l'Esquerda han permès la descoberta d'una muralla de més de 80 m de longitud 1 i 2,7 m d'amplada, amb un parament de grans carreus irregulars units amb morter de calç. A més de la torre situada a l'extrem est de la muralla, s'han localitzat dues noves torres cap a l'oest, la darrera amb una entrada en angle. La tipologia dels paraments, la ceràmica i altre material arqueològic associat apunten cap a una cronologia de construcció i ús entre els segles v i viii dC, amb una destrucció a inicis del segle ix dC. Tot plegat conforma un conjunt defensiu que tanca l'accés a la península sobre el Ter, que permet identificar-lo com la Roda Ciutat esmentada als Annals Reials de l'emperador carolingi Lluís el Pietós, fill de Carlemany. A finals del segle viii i inicis del ix dC l'Esquerda-Roda era el centre de la línia de defensa establerta pels francs al llarg del riu Ter davant dels musulmans, per tal de protegir Girona i els passos pirinencs, i avançar cap a Barcelona.

This system is designed as a home-use early cancer detection kit, functioning much like a diabetes test. The user pricks their finger with a lancet to deposit a small blood sample onto a detection strip. The strip contains gold nanoparticles suspended in a stabilizing solution. A second strip, containing only dried salt, is clamped down after blood absorption. If circulating free DNA (cfDNA)-a potential early cancer biomarker-is present in the blood, a distinct color change from red to blue occurs, signaling a positive result. The method is simple, visual, and user-friendly without requiring any digital equipment. In this diagnostic system, citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are stabilized within a phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) medium. This environment ensures colloidal stability prior to activation by a secondary salt-based trigger strip. The visual signal is produced by a plasmonic shift in the gold nanoparticles, transitioning from red (dispersed) to blue (aggregated) in the presence of cfDNA and ionic shielding. Stage One: Gold Nanoparticle Stabilization with Buffer and PEG The gold nanoparticles are capped with citrate ions, which impart a negative surface charge: > AuNP (citrate) AuNP This electrostatic repulsion prevents aggregation in solution. The PBS buffer, at physiological pH 7.4, provides ionic balance without disrupting this surface charge, maintaining a stable colloid. PEG, added in low concentration (0.05-0.1% w/v), introduces steric hindrance which further stabilizes the nanoparticles by preventing van der Waals-driven clustering.

Les trois réunions tenues d a n s le c a d re des journées scientifiques du thèm e 7C « Expérimentation, ethnoarchéologie, modélisation » furent consacrées à une ou deux activités techniques : la céram ique pour la première journée, le traitement d e s peaux pour la deuxièm e, la production d e sel e t d e feu pour la troisième. C e d é c o u p a g e a m e n a logiquem ent les intervenants à centrer leur propos sur les asp ects proprem ent techniques. Les différentes interventions illustrent ainsi l'intérêt archéologique des observations techniques o p é ré e s en contexte ethnographiques. De fait, les chaînes opératoires relatives au traitement des peaux observées chez les indiens du Nord canadien (S. Beyries) e t les Koriakes e t les Dolgans d e Sibérie (F. David e t C. Karlin), associées au prélèvem ent et à l'étude des outils utilisés, a p p o rte n t in référentiel indispensable à la connaissance d e s technologies préhistoriques. I en est globalem ent d e m êm e des autres techniques considérées, m êm e si les matériaux susceptibles d e servir d e référentiels diffèrent. Ainsi, contrairement au travail des peaux, l'activité céram ique (A. Gelbert e t O. Langlois) laissera à l'archéologue infiniment moins d'outils que d e produits. Ces derniers seront donc g én éralem en t pris co m m e référentiel, cela, en dépit des difficultés dues à l'oblitération souvent volontaires des traces techniques. Les productions d e sel (O. Weller) e t d e feu (R. March) ont, q u a n ta elles, pour caractéristique com m une la piètre conservation des produits et des outils qu'elles génèrent. En effet, non seulement le sel est consommé ou dilué et l'énergie lumineuse et calorique est immatérielle, mais la plupart des outils associés sont périssables ou combustibles. En conséquence, seuls les résidus d e c es activités sont susceptibles d e traverser les siècles et, partant, d e fournir un référentiel satisfaisant. À c e s différences près, une m êm e d é m a rc h e fut présen tée par l'ensem ble des intervenants. Bien que supposant la fréquentation d e terrains exotiques, celle-ci se résum e à « profiter des expérimentations naturelles d'un laboratoire naturel » (A. C oudart 1992 : 413) et relève d o n c d a v a n ta g e d e l'expérimentation q u e d'une ethnoarchéologie aux contours encore mal définis.

Mirrors of Salt publishes the proceedings of the First International Congress on the Anthropology of Salt, which took place at the Alexandru loan Cuza University in lasi (Romania). The impact of salt on the development of human communities, from the Neolithic to the present, has generated a huge number of specialised studies. However, scientific research has become so atomized that the primordial importance of the mineral has been lost, creating a need for a holistic, comprehensive vision of the dimensions generated by salt. This can only be achieved through anthropology. The anthropology of salt encompasses the entirety of human behaviour, i.e. cognitive, spiritual, pragmatic, and social reactions to salt, and provides a holistic view of its role in the evolution of human communities. The anthropology of salt thus brings salt studies from an ancillary position to an autonomous discipline. The papers in this volume are organized into six sections: theoretical approaches, archaeology, history, ethnography/ ethnoarchaeology/ethnohistory, linguistics, and literature. Topics include salt in Greek and Roman antiquity, as well as from Austria, Cameroon, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Nigeria, Peru, Romania, Spain, Sudan, Syria, the UK, Ukraine, the USA and Venezuela. The congress was organised within the project The Ethnoarchaeology of the Salt Springs and Salt Mountains from the Extra-Carpathian Areas of Romania, financed by the Government of Romania (CNCS - UEFISCDI) (2011-
2016). Its theoretical novelty and geographical range render Mirrors of Salt a unique study of the world's most-used non-metallic mineral.