Did they just find salt on the ground and lick it? Did they drink animal blood? Did they drink ocean water (I hope not)?
I’ve always wondered this since I was a little kid.
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Salt came from what they hunted and gathered. All plants and animals are made of millions of cells. All those cells need to be able to communicate with one another. Salt makes communication possible.
Since some hunter-gatherer humans lived by the ocean, and some inland, humans had to evolve to be able to deal with vastly different amounts of salt in their diet. As a child grows up, their body gets used to the amount of salt normally in their diet. Those who live by the sea learn to expell thar salt through sweat and urine. Those who grow up inland have to learn to treat salt like a precious gem, never to be thrown away.
What would happen if a hunter-gatherer was moved from the ocean to the prairies or vice versa? They would die. Those used to salt will find it impossible to get enough, their muscles will spasm and cramp, and they will die of dehydration. Those not used to salt will die of kidney failure.
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