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The Ethnoarchaeology of Salt Production at Lake Cuitzeo, Michoacán, Mexico

Salt has always been a strategic resource of primary importance. In Prehispanic times, salt was used mainly for human consumption, and after the Spanish conquest it became, in addition, an important commodity for silver processing and cattle raising. Salt production and trade in the Lake Cuitzeo basin are analyzed from the perspective of ethnography, archaeology, and ethnohistory. We know that salt from Araró, one of the towns where this research is focused, was paid as tribute in the early colonial era. Ethnohistorical sources concerning salt production in the Lake Cuitzeo basin are discussed, including information on the quantity of salt paid by each town in the first half of the sixteenth century. Contemporary salt-producing sites and methods are described, including the amount of brine and earth used, and the average yield of each finca, or salt-producing unit. Modern and ancient techniques and processes are compared, and found to be similar. The “archaeological visibility” of these activities is assessed, using examples from several areas of Mesoamerica to illustrate the archaeological features and artifacts (e. g., mounds, canals, and specialized pottery types) connected with salt making.