The History Of Salt And How It Continues To Be Useful Today

Salt has been used by humans for many years; going back to ancient times salt has been invaluable. It is thought that even cavemen came to realise the importance of salt, which was first obtained through eating animal meat. Man then realised that salt from sea water would give food that same salty taste; it was also used for preserving food. It is known that in olden times salt was a commodity and would be swapped for other goods; it was a very valuable trade indeed. The word salary is derived from the word 'salt'. It is possible that salt was in fact the first means of trade and currency. There are references to salt in the Bible and statements such as the holy salt and salt of the earth are known to have originated there.
It would appear that salt is an essence of life and we could not live without it.

Humans, animals and even plants need salt to survive and our ancient ancestors were probably driven, in primitive ways, to ensure their bodies digested salt. All fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals carry salt within their veins. The exact same proportions of the elements calcium, potassium and sodium are found within our bodies and the sea. For humans, salt is as essential as water.

Salt, initially came from the break-up of rocks by frost and erosion. Salt is locked into these rocks and as the rain falls, the salt dissolves and is carried into the sea. The sea salt is leaked from the rocks beneath the sea's surface; it is a never-ending cycle, and through the process of evaporation, the saline balance stays the same. Salt returns to the earth through salt spray or from salt crystals that form the nucleii for raindrops. It then finds its way back into the ocean.

Archaeologists leading excavations have found evidence of salt making across Britain from the Bronze Age through to Roman and Medieval periods and up to the 20th century. The artefacts found are salt pans and brine kilns. Across history there have been many methods of extracting or producing salt, and different civilisations have used their own techniques. Basically salt is produced by the evaporation of sea water by the heat from the sun and then solar evaporation. Another method is the quarrying of exposed masses of rock salt, which is still carried out today in parts of England. The Chinese used wells to reach underground pools of salt water. Ideal conditions for salt crystal formation are hotter regions beside the sea or next to salt lakes. Where this is not possible, salt water is poured onto burning wood or hot rocks; when the wood or rocks cool down the salt is then scraped off.