The story of a few grains of salt in European prehistory

An updated synthesis of available information in the field about the origin of salt production (Neolithic and Chalcolithic), insisting on the types of artifacts (structures, coal, tools mining ...), manufacturing techniques and production control methods. Based on a ethno-archaeological study from New Guinea (Indonesia), we attempt at understanding better how these operations are integrated in particular social contexts in which the salt – specifically loaves of salt – besides its real role in food, sometimes appears as a product with high exchange value, as a form of sustainable storage of wealth. If salt was a strong economic stake in certain periods, we must now study the operation and underlying social laws.