Salt and Power in Copper Age Iberia

Abstract

In recent years the archaeology of salt in prehistoric Iberia has witnessed extraordinary advances. The earliest evidence of salt production dates to the Early Neolithic (late sixth millennium BC), but intensive production did not emerge in certain regions until the Copper Age (ca. 3200 BC). It is argued here that by the mid-third millennium BC, Iberian Beaker groups—regarded as high-status individuals—gradually took control of salt production and distribution as part of their strategies to gain power.