Salt Notes : Another early salt production
Occurred in Zhongba, China. Harvard archeologists were members of the
team. Chemical evidence is presence of calcium oxide on the ceramic
remnants. The chemical is a residue of the brine-boiling process. From the
earliest period, dated at 2000 B.C. to 1750 B.C., the team found large,
pointed-bottom vats used to store or to boil salt water. In the second
period, which ranged from 1630 B.C. to 1210 B.C., many small, pointedbottom
cups appeared. The cups served as molds for salt cones for
commerce. Small, round-bottomed jars dominate remains from the third
period, which extended from 1100 B.C. to 200 B.C.