Today , remnants of an ancient Central American saltiness mine rest below the brackish amnionic fluid of a lagoon , but tools that have resurface at the men of archaeologists are help to sort out what life history looked like there more than 1,000 years ago and , among other things , how the ancient Mayans ’ affinity for salt help oneself to expand their civilization through the production , storage , and craft of the mineral .
A new study published inPNASreveals the Paynes Creek Salt Works in Belize was once the site of a salt kitchen used to produce and store the biologically and economically significant commodity . At a time when society was shift from hunter and gathers to agriculturist , the need to preserve perishable intellectual nourishment became crucial to the survival of stationary civilisation , conduce to the giving birth of the common salt - producing proficiency experience asbriquetage . Used across ancient Rome , Asia , and other culture , the technique calls for stewing brine in tummy over fire to evaporate water system , leave salinity behind . The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in these pot would then be hardened into salt bar , which could be used stored , ravish to nearby trading hubs , or used to bear on fish and meat .
The 8 - square - kilometre ( 3 square naut mi ) site is environ by a mangrove timberland that boom on acidic soil , or peat , which disintegrates bone , shells , and other microfossil made from calcium carbonate but preserve woody materials . An international team of investigator map and excavated the website and found more than 4,000 wooden Post that indicate a serial of construction would have been used as salt kitchen .
“ Our work suggests that salting Pisces was a significant activity at the table salt whole kit and boodle , which corresponds to Roman , Chinese , and other East Asiatic civilizations , where salt and salted fish were critical components of food reposition , trade , and state finance , ” wrote the author .
But what tells a more interesting story is the presence of the tool found in the region . A microscopical depth psychology of 20 chert stone tools convalesce from underwater show wear patterns that are ordered with Pisces preparations , despite there being no grounds of Pisces in the arena .
" Since we found virtually no fish or other beast bones during our sea - story survey or excavations , I was surprised that the microscopic markings on the stone pecker , which we call ' purpose - clothing , ' showed that most of the tools were used to cut or scratch up Pisces or meat , " say Heather McKillop , the sketch ’s lead source , in astatement .
McKillop believe fish , meat , and animal hides could have been manufactured here and , along with the common salt , would have been traded at other centers .
" These discoveries embody the mannikin of regional production and distribution of salt to meet the biologic pauperization of the Classic Maya , " McKillop say .
The “ surprising ” discovery helps to explain how other marine resources – like conch shell , red coral , and stingray spines – hail to be found in inland memory cache and burials at Mayan site around the area .
Scientists dissect the microscopic markings on excavated stone tools including these to identify new findings of the ancient Maya from more than 1,000 years ago . LSU
