salt
As Dear as Salt - Indications for an Ancient Plant Ash Tradition Preserved in Old World Folktale
Publication Date
Do folktale heroines tell of a prehistoric plant ash use? The culinary use of plant ash is an ancient technology nearly extinct worldwide and completely absent from Eurasian cultural history. Despite the lack of this technology´s historical documentation, folktales provide a rich yet underestimated corpus on salt and ash. The denotation of the physical substances as well as the related narrative structures are investigated throughout several tale types...
Black Ash - a Forgotten Domestication Trait in Garden Orach (Atriplex hortensis L.)
Publication Date
Garden Orach (Atriplex hortensis L.) is a vegetable plant of minor importance but with a wide distribution throughout the Old World and beyond. Previous research revealed its diverse medicinal and magical importance in prehistory. Here, Orach’s special ability to retain sodium even in non-saline ground is introduced. The outstandingly high concentrations of sodium in dry plant matter and plant ash suggest its use as a salt substitute, manifested in an early domestication trait. Special attention is paid to the variability of this trait in cultivars from different geographic regions and within the genus Atriplex. ..
The Role of Saltmarsh Plants in Iron Age and Roman Salt Production in the Thames Estuary, UK
Publication Date
Analysis of plant remains and soils collected during excavations of the Iron Age and Roman Period salt production site at Stanford Wharf Nature Reserve on the coast of Essex have shown that saltmarsh plants and adhering sediments had been used as fuel to evaporate brine and crystallise the sea salt.