Recent PhD Paul Eubanks and Dr. Ian W. Brown publish “Certain Trends in Eastern Woodlands Salt Production Technology” in Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology (Vol. 40 No. 3, Fall, 2015, 231–256.
Abstract:
From the Late Woodland period until the end of the eighteenth century, the American Indians of the Eastern Woodlands produced salt by evaporating brine in ceramic containers. These vessels, often termed saltpans, exhibited a range of variability in size, form, and surface treatment. Data from eight salt-making localities discussed here support the idea that in parts of the Deep South bowls and jars were preferred over thicker basin-shaped vessels, but this does not seem to have been the case throughout the rest of the Eastern Woodlands. While there is some evidence to suggest that salt bowls and jars were supported over a fire using clay pedestals and that salt was traded in small cups, or augets, very few of these ceramic forms have been identified thus far in eastern North America.
Keywords: salt production, saltpans, briquetage
Eubanks and Brown 2015 Certain Trends in Eastern Woodlands Salt Production Technology 2015