The Last Saltmakers of Nexquipayac, Mexico: An Archaeological Ethnography

Contents
List of figures
List of tables
List of plates
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
	General Background
	The Physiological Basis for Salt Consumption
	Salt and Saitmaking in Mesoamerica and the Valley of Mexico
	The Scope of This Monograph
	The Local Setting
	The Organization of This Monograph
Chapter 2: Saltmaking at Nexquipayac in 1988
	Synopsis of the Saltmaking Process
	The Workshops: Facilities and Implements
		The SN Workshop
			The Permanent Features
			The Portable Contents
		The IC Workshop
			The Eastern Sub-Area
			The Western Sub-Area
			The Central Sub-Area
		The MC Workshop
	The Soils Used in Saltmaking: Types and Sources
		Lakeshore Soils
		Leached Workshop Soils
		The Lakeshore Sources
		Ash Deposits Used in Saltmaking
	Collecting and Transporting the Soils
		The SN Strategy: Combination of Truck and Cart
		The IC Strategy: Exclusive Reliance on Burro Cart
		Hauling Soil in the 1930s and 1940s
	Storing Soils at the Workshop
	Mixing the Soils to Be Loaded into the Pilas
		The SN Workshop: Preparing the Sal Blanca Mixture
		The SN Workshop: Preparing the Sal Negra Mixture
		The IC Workshop: Preparing the Sal Blanca Mixture
		The IC Workshop: Preparing the Sal Negra Mixture
	Pilas: Preparation, Use, and Maintenance
		Preparing a New Pila
		Loading the Soil Mixture
		The Leaching Process
		Cleaning Out the Pila Pit
	Boiling Hut Operations
		Boiling the Agua Salada: Sal Blanca
		Boiling the Agua Salada: Sal Negra and Salitre
		Drying the Salt: Sal Blanca
		Drying the Salt: Sal Negra
		Salitre Crystallization and Drying
	Fuel Operations
		The Present
		Pre-1960s
	Distributing the Salt
		The Present
		The 1930s and 1940s
	Summary and Conclusions
		Sources of Soil and Water
		Workshop Features and Implements
		Recycling Soil
		Expertise and Knowledge
		Fuel Costs
		The Uses of Salt
Chapter 3: Saltmaking in the Valley of Mexico, 1500-1920
	The Geochemistry of Tequesquite in and around Lake Texcoco
	The Changing Needs for Salt during the First Posthispanic Century
	Documented Salt Use in the Valley of Mexico on the Eve of Spanish Contact
		The Triple Alliance Tribute
		Eye-Witness Accounts from the Valley of Mexico
	The Posthispanic Sixteenth-Century Documentary Source
		Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, The Florentine Codex
		The Relaciones Geograficas
		Other Sixteenth-Century Accounts
	The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
	The Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
	Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 4: SaItmaking in Mesoamerica outside the Valley of Mexico, 1500-1920
	Marine Coastal Lagoons
	Inland Salt Springs
	Inland Salt Lakes
	Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 5: Worldwide Comparative Perspectives
	Technological Variability
		Minimalist Salt-Harvesting Techniques
		Transport, Boiling, and Storage in the Workshop
		Preparation of Salt "Gardens"
		Solar Evaporation
		Brine Boiling
		Fuel Problems
		Leaching Devices and Procedures
		The Use of Salty Brine in Cooking and Seasoning Food
		Making Different Types of Salt
		Drying and Cleaning Salt
		Packaging, Storing, and Transporting Finished Salt
		Rainy Season Saltmaking
		Leaching the Ashes of Salt-Rich Plants
		Collecting Precipitated Salt from Salt-Rich Plants
	Quantitative Input-Output Data
	Settlement Patterns
	The Complementarity of Saltmaking and Agriculture
	The Association between Saltmaking and Pottery Making
	The Scale and Organization of Traditional Saltmaking
	The Sociopolitical Implications of Salt Production, Distribution, and Consumption
	Overall Conclusions
Chapter 6: The Association between Saltmaking and Textile Dyeing
	The Preparation of Mordant Ash and Brine in West Africa
	The Use of Salt and Tequesquite in Traditional Mexican Cloth Dyeing
	Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 7: The Archaeology of Traditional Saltmaking
	The Valley of Mexico
		The Significance of Fabric-Marked Pottery
		Pre-Middle Postclassic Saltmaking in the Valley of Mexico
		Summary and Conclusions
	Other Parts of Mesoamerica
		Location and Appearance of Saltmaking Sites
		Non-Movable Ceramic and Masonry Containers
		Ceramic Assemblages
		Changes in Saltmaking over Time
		Summary and Conclusions
	North America
	South America
	Europe
		Briquetage and "Red Hill" Sites
		A Reconstruction of Saltmaking at Briquetage Sites
		The Seasonality and Specialization of Iron Age Saltmaking at Briquetage Sites
		Changes in European Saltmaking during the Later Iron Age
		Technological and Organizational Changes in Saltmaking during Roman and Post-Roman Times
	Africa
	Asia
	Overall Summary and Conclusions
Chapter 8: Conclusions
	Potentially Appropriate Saltmaking Techniques in the Valley of Mexico
		The Use of Brine for Flavoring and Cooking Foods
		The Use of Plant Ash vs. Crystalline Salt
		Harvesting Natural Tequesquite during the Dry Season
		Simple Solar Evaporation: Replicating and Extending Nature
		Intensified Solar Evaporation
		Specialized Year-Round Saltmaking
	The Infrastructure of Saltmaking
	The Geopolitics of Salt
	A Hypothetical Developmental Scenario
		Stage 1: The Early, Middle, and Late Formative, ca. 900-250 B.C.
		Stage 2: The Early Terminal Formative, ca. 250-50 B.C.
		Stage 3: The Late Terminal Formative, Classic, and Epiclassic, ca. 50 B.C.A. D. 900
		Stage 4: The Early Postclassic, ca. A.D. 900-1100
		Stage 5: The Middle and Late Postclassic, ca. A.D. 1100-1520
	Future Research Directions
Epilogue: Saltmaking at Nexquipayac in 1998
Glossary
Bibliography