Abstract
Common salt, or sodium chloride, has always been a strategic resource of primary importance. In Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica salt was used mainly for human consumption, as the native diet (consisting mainly of plants such as maize, beans, chili peppers, squash, and so on) had little chloride and sodium (Williams 2003). Chloride is essential for digestion and respiration, and without sodium our organism would be unable to transport nutrients or oxygen, or transmit nerve impulses. Throughout the world, once human beings began cultivating crops, they began looking for salt to add to their diet (Kurlansky 2002:6–9).
In the preindustrial world sodium chloride had several important uses apart from its role in the diet, particularly as a preservative of animal flesh, as a mordant for fixing textile dyes, as a medium of exchange, and as a principal component in the preparation of soaps and cleansing agents (Parsons 1994:280).
The flow of strategic and scarce goods (including salt) from the subject provinces to the imperial capitals in Mesoamerica (such as Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital) was assured by the rulers through a geopolitical strategy that kept conquered communities under the obligation to pay tribute, and kept the lines of communication with the state core areas open at all times. The procurement and distribution of salt and other strategic resources (e.g., obsidian, copper, turquoise, jade, and so on) as well as the military control of the source areas and the extraction of tribute and trade were critical aspects for the economic and social life of most Mesoamerican polities. Imperial expansion toward resource-rich regions is ultimately explained by the desire to obtain precious commodities and vital resources, among which salt was always of paramount importance.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Acuña, R. (ed.) (1987). Relaciones geográficas del siglo XVI:Michoacán. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.
Andrews, A. P. (1980). Salt-Making, Merchants and Markets:the Role of a Critical Resource in the Development of Maya Civilization. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Arizona, Tucson.
Andrews, A. P. (1983). Maya Salt Production and Trade. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
Andrews, A. P. (1997). La sal entre los antiguos mayas:alimentación y comercio. Arqueología Mexicana 5(28), pp. 38-45.
Beltrán, U. (1982). Tarascan State and Society in Pre-Hispanic Times:an Ethnohistorical Inquiry. Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago.
Blanton, R. E., Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G., and J. Appel (1981). Ancient Mesoamerica:a Comparison of Change in Three Regions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Castelló, T. (1987). Presencia de la comida prehispánica. Fomento Cultural Banamex, Mexico City.
Cortés, H. (1983 [1520]). Cartas de Relación. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico City.
Diehl, R. A. (2004). The Olmecs:America’s First Civilization. Thames & Hudson, New York.
Drennan, R. D. (1984a). Long-Distance Transport Costs in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. American Anthropologist 86(1), pp. 105-111.
Drennan, R. D. (1984b). Long-Distance Movement of Goods in the Mesoamerican Formative and Classic. American Antiquity 49(1), pp. 27-43.
Flannery, K. V. and Winter M. C. (1976). Analyzing Household Activities. In The Early Mesoamerican Village, edited by K.V. Flannery, pp. 34-48. Academic Press, New York.
Gómez Azpeitia, L. G. (2006). Orden y beneficio del territorio durante el virreinato. Universidad de Colima, Colima.
Good, C. (1995). Salt Production and Commerce in Guerrero, Mexico:an Ethnographic Contribution to Historical Reconstruction. Ancient Mesoamerica 6(1): 1-14.
Hassig, R. (1985). Trade, Tribute, and Transportation:the Sixteenth-Century Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Kelley, J. Charles (2000). The Aztatlán Mercantile System:Mobile Traders and the Northwestward Expansion of Mesoamerican Civilization. In Greater Mesoamerica:the Archaeology of West and Northwest Mexico, edited by M.S. Foster and S. Gorenstein, pp. 137-154. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
Kepecs, S. (2000). Chichén Itzá, Tula and the Epiclassic/Early Postclassic Mesoamerican World System. Paper presented in the Colloquium on Chichen Itzá and Tula. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington.
Kepecs, S. (2003). Salt Sources and Production. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by M.E. Smith and F.F. Berdan, pp. 126-130. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
Kurlansky, M. (2002). Salt:a World History. Walker and Co. New York.
Landa, Fr. D. de (1982 [1560]). Relación de las cosas de Yucatán. Editorial Porrúa, Mexico City.
Liot, C. (2000). Les salines préhispaniques du bassin de Sayula (Occident de Mexique):milieu et techniques. BAR International Series 849. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.
McKillop, H. (2002). Salt:White Gold of the Ancient Maya. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
Miscelánea Estadística (1873). Miscelánea estadística:noticias históricas, geográficas y estadísticas del estado de Michoacán. Gobierno del estado de Michoacán, Morelia.
Muñoz Camargo, D. (1972 [1892]). Historia de Tlaxcala. Biblioteca de facsímiles mexicanos 6, Guadalajara.
Parsons, J. R. (1994). Late Postclassic Salt Production and Consumption in the Basin of Mexico. In Economies and Polities in the Aztec Realm, edited by M.G. Hodge and M.E. Smith, pp. 257-290. Studies on Culture and Society, Vol. 6. Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, State University of New York, Albany.
Parsons, J. R. (2001). The Last Saltmakers of Nexquipayac, Mexico:an Archaeological Ethnography. Anthropological Papers 92. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Pollard, H. P. (1987). The Political Economy of Pre-Hispanic Tarascan Metallurgy. American Antiquity 52(4), pp. 741-752.
Pollard, H. P. (1993). Taríacuri’s Legacy:the Pre-Hispanic Tarascan State. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
Pollard, H. P. (2003). The Tarascan Empire. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by M.E. Smith and F.F. Berdan, pp. 78-86. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
Quiroz Malca, H, (1998). Las mujeres y los hombres de la sal:un proceso de producción y reproducción cultural en la Costa Chica de Guerrero. Doctoral thesis, Universidad Iberoamericana, México.
Reyes, J. C. (1995). Las salinas colimenses durante el período colonial, siglos XVI a XVIII. In La sal en México, Vol. I, edited by J.C. Reyes, pp. 143-154. Universidad de Colima, Colima.
Reyes, J. C. (1998). Los arrieros de la sal:el transporte de la sal y su impacto en la economía local de Colima durante el Virreinato. In La sal en México, Vol. II, edited by J. C. Reyes, pp. 147-160. Universidad de Colima, México.
Reyes, J. C. (2000). Al pie del volcán:los indios de Colima en el virreinato. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios en antropología Social, México City.
Sanders, W. and Price, B. (1968). Mesoamerica: the Evolution of a Civilization. Random House, New York.
Santley, R. S. (2004). Prehistoric Salt Production at El Salado, Veracruz, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 15(2), pp. 199-221.
Smith, M. E. (1990). Long-Distance Trade Under the Aztec Empire:the Archaeological Evidence. Ancient Mesoamerica 1(2), pp. 153-170.
Smith, M. E. (1998). The Aztecs. Blackwell, London.
Smith, M. E. and Berdan F. F. (2003). Postclassic Mesoamerica. In The Postclassic Mesoamerican World, edited by Michael E. Smith and Francis F. Berdan, pp. 3-13. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
Valdez, F., Liot, C., Acosta, R. and Emphoux, J. P. (1996). The Sayula Basin: Lifeways and Salt Flats of Central Jalisco. Ancient Mesoamerica 7(1): 171-186.
Weigand, P. C. (1996). La evolución y ocaso de un núcleo de civilización:la tradición Teuchitlán y la arqueología de Jalisco. In Las cuencas del Occidente de México:época prehispánica, edited by Eduardo Williams and Philip C. Weigand, pp. 185-246. El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora.
Williams, E. (1999). The Ethnoarchaeology of Salt Production at Lake Cuitzeo, Michoacán, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 10(4), pp. 400-414.
Williams, E. (2002). Salt Production in the Coastal Area of Michoacán, Mexico:an Ethnoarchaeological Study. Ancient Mesoamerica 13, pp. 237-253.
Williams, E. (2003). La sal de la tierra:etnoarqueología de la producción salinera en el occidente de México. El Colegio de Michoacán and Secretaría de Cultura de Jalisco. Zamora and Guadalajara.
Williams, E. (2004a). Ancient West Mexico:a Mesoamerican Culture Area. Electronic document, available at www.famsi.org/research/williams.
Williams, E. (2004b). The Ethnoarchaeology of Salt Production in the Lake Cuitzeo Basin, Michoacán, Mexico. Electronic document, available at www.famsi.org/reports/ 02006/index.html.
Williams, E. (2004c). La producción contemporánea de sal en la costa de Michoacán:de la descripción etnográfica a la interpretación arqueológica. In Bienes estratégicos del antiguo Occidente de México:producción e intercambio, edited by Eduardo Williams, pp. 137-182. El Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora.
Williams, E. (2008). Etnoarqueología del modo de vida lacustre en la cuenca de Cuitzeo, Michoacán. Unpublished manuscript on file in the Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos, El Colegio de Michoacán, Jacona, Michoacán, Mexico.
Williams, E. (2009). The Exploitation of Aquatic Resources at Lake Cuitzeo, Michoacán, México:an Ethnoarchaeological Study. Latin American Antiquity.
Acknowledgments
This article is based on the book La sal de la tierra, which was awarded the Alfonso Caso Prize by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History in 2005. The author would like to thank several colleagues who gave help and advice: Anthony Andrews, Daniel Healan, Jeffrey Parsons, Helen Pollard, Juan Carlos Reyes, Michael E. Smith, and Philip Weigand.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Williams, E. (2009). Salt Production and Trade in Ancient Mesoamerica. In: Staller, J., Carrasco, M. (eds) Pre-Columbian Foodways. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0471-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0471-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0470-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0471-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)