Research Catalog

Title

Maya salt works / Heather McKillop ; foreword by Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase.

Author

McKillop, Heather Irene, 1953-

Publication

• Gainesville, FL : University Press of Florida, [2019]
• ©2019

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Chase, Arlen F. (Arlen Frank), 1953-
• Chase, Diane Z.

Description

xvii, 234 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm.

Summary

"In Maya Salt Works, Heather McKillop details her archaeological team's groundbreaking discovery of a unique and massive salt production complex submerged in a lagoon in southern Belize. Exploring the organization of production and trade at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, McKillop offers a fascinating new look at the role of salt in the ancient Maya economy. McKillop maps over 4,000 wooden posts and wedges, the first known wooden structures preserved underwater from the Classic period, describing new methods of underwater archaeology developed specifically for this shallow maritime setting. She explains the technology of salt production, examining fragments of briquetage--the pots that boiled brine over fires in the kitchens--and provides evidence that salt workers relied on specific types of wood for building construction. McKillop theorizes that different households operated salt kitchens and distributed their goods via canoe to sell at inland marketplaces for use as dietary salt, a flavor enhancer, and preservative. Complex distribution networks reveal expertise in water transportation and knowledge of the sea by Maya mariners, skills that allowed them to control the transport of commodities like salt. By evaluating the scale, concentration, intensity, and context of the Paynes Creek Salt Works, McKillop provides a model for interpreting existing salt works sites as well as future discoveries along the Yucatán Peninsula."--

Series Statement

Maya studies

Uniform Title

Maya studies.

Subject

• Salt industry and trade > Belize
• Mayas > Commerce
• Mayas > Belize > Antiquities
• Salt > Belize > History
• Mayas > Antiquities
• Salt
• Salt industry and trade
• Belize

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-222) and index.

Contents

Economies of Maya salt -- Discovery and mapping underwater -- Briquetage and the technology of salt production -- The infrastructure of salt production: wooden architecture -- Wood selection for the salt kitchens -- Labor, production, and identity -- Marketing salt, salted fish, cacao, and marine products -- Salt: a mover and shaker in ancient Maya society.

Call Number

JFE 19-7670

ISBN

• 9780813056333
• 0813056330

LCCN

• 2018046945
• 40029256093

OCLC

1054379381

Author

McKillop, Heather Irene, 1953- author.

Title

Maya salt works / Heather McKillop ; foreword by Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase.

Publisher

Gainesville, FL : University Press of Florida, [2019]

Copyright Date

©2019

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Maya studies

Maya studies.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-222) and index.

Added Author

Chase, Arlen F. (Arlen Frank), 1953- writer of foreword.

Chase, Diane Z., writer of foreword.

Other Standard Identifier

40029256093

Research Call Number

JFE 19-7670