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  3. The Last Saltmakers of Nexquipayac, Mexico: An Archaeological Ethnography

The Last Saltmakers of Nexquipayac, Mexico: An Archaeological Ethnography

Jeffrey R. Parsons
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In the 1980s, a few traditional saltmakers were still manufacturing several kinds of salt in the eastern Valley of Mexico. This in-depth study of the methodology of this dying craft includes a comparative study of pre-industrial saltmaking around the world and considers the implications of this knowledge for future archaeological research.
  • 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
Citable Link
Published: 2001
Publisher: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology
ISBN(s)
  • 978-0-915703-51-7 (paper)
  • 978-1-949098-80-8 (ebook)
Series
  • Anthropological Papers Series
Subject
  • Latin American Studies
  • Archaeology:New World
https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaa

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