Salt of the Early Civilizations: Case Studies on China

After a brief survey of the importance of salt to ancient China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, this paper examines salt production and management of the Erlitou and Erligang cultures from the Yi-Luo River basin along the Yellow River and of Zhongba in the Ganjing River valley in the Yangzi’s Three Gorges region. All three case studies on Bronze Age China show that the political center of these cultures was connected to peripheral resources, physically through transportation routes that went through regional centers, and politically and socially by increased stratification and strengthened interelite relationships. These case studies also offer evidence that local cultures and polities had a strong voice in the development and integration of peripheral resources. * * * Salt is blamed today for everything from hyperactive children to hypertensive adults.1 So, it may come as a surprise that many scholars maintain that, without salt, human society could not have made the leap from hunting gathering to farming. A substantial supply of salt is essential for an agricultural society for four reasons. First, humans consume great quantities of salt. It is a part of a person’s basic nutritional requirement.2 People, however, ingest salt in a quantity far above their physiological needs. 3 While hunters do not have to supplement their diet with salt, an agricultural diet by itself cannot meet this craving, whether it is nutritional, sensory, or cultural.4 For this reason, J. G. D. Clark linked the emergence of Neolithic agrarian communities to the rise of salt manufacturing.5 Second, farmers need salt for their livestock as well as themselves. Like humans, hoofed animals crave salt.6 Because livestock cannot roam in search of salt like wild animals do, farmers must feed them salt.7 Third, salt is crucial for food preservation. A major advantage of an agricultural society over a hunting-gathering one is a more stable food supply.8 As an agrarian community moves beyond hand-to-mouth existence and its population expands, resource planning becomes increasingly important.9 Grains can be Case Studies on China Elise Hoi Salt of the Early Civilizations: