Salt: White Gold of the Ancient Maya

Maya Studies

by Heather McKillop

In this text, Heather McKillop reports the discovery, excavation and interpretation of Late Classic Maya salt works on the coast of Belize, expanding knowledge of the Maya salt trade and craft specialization while providing insights on sea-level rise in the Late Holocene as well.

Genres: History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2002

About the author

Heather Irene McKillop is a Canadian-American archaeologist, academic, and Maya scholar, noted in particular for her research into ancient Maya coastal trade routes, seafaring, littoral archaeology, and the long-distance exchange of commodities in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.

Reviews

[Charles Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy to read archaeological survey of salt production in the southern Maya lowlands of Yucatan and Belize. The southern lowlands were linked vertically and horizontally to Maya political centers of the Late Classic period, and not dependent upon salt from the northern lowland centers of the Post Classic, like Chichen Itza. Humans have a biological need, and have acquired an "appetite," for salt.

Specialized production took place outside the household, and during the dry season. The Maya used two methods, sal cocido (cooked salt; dehydration of saltwater in kettles over fire) and sal solar(salt pans on shore dehydrated by solar energy), though the former was prevalent in southern lowlands, while use of the latter is not evidenced and was likely unnecessary.

This is an interesting book that sheds further light on Maya craft production, social organization, and trade. Many Maya coastal sites are now submerged and provide a cautionary tale of global warming's effects on littoral population zones.