From briquetage to salinas in protohistoric Central Italy

Abstract

In this paper we outline a novel interdisciplinary field methodology that we will use in our research project `Salt and Power, Early States, Rome and Resource Control, funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and based at the Groningen Institute of Archaeology. The aim of the project is to gain insight in ancient salt production on the Italian Tyrrhenian coast in the framework of early state formation in Etruria and Latium Vetus. Our approach employs geophysical, chemical and archaeological methods to study both the briquetage and saltern production modes in their specific environmental and geographical contexts.