The human body needs salt to function properly, but surely First Nations of the prairies, people of central Africa or of Central Europe, from the Mongolian steppes and from other landlocked places, couldn’t have access to salt marshes. So where did they get it from?
In: 146
Salt deposits in soil and rocks is not uncommon in most areas. Salt mining may have been one of the earliest source of trade and industry and may predate modern *H. sapiens.*
Salt can be obtained from seafood. It can also be obtained from the dead bark or dead leaves of certain trees and shrubs, and plants where it accumulates due to evaporation.
There were a number of methods used. Areas with tidal mud flats and warm, dry summers, the mud flats can be dammed and high tide allowed to slowly percolate through a series of pools where the water evaporates.
Likewise areas with deposits of salty soil (caused by intermittent, seasonal ponds and lakes), salt can be obtained by adding water the filtering the mud with cloth, then allowing the water to evaporate from the catching container indoors.
Latest Answers