MRBLOCH SALT ARCHIVE is a database of collected material relating to salt [NaCl] and its catastrophic influence on Ancient civilizations, and its place in man's development up to the Industrial Revolution

 
The purpose of the SALT Archive is to collect evidence to support the theory that  Common Salt and its short supply from the then known sources had catastrophic influence on the development of ancient civilizations.

Traditionally, the study of man has been based on the study of his tools and artifacts, ideas and religion.

It has failed to take into account those items essential to man's survival. Such an item is Salt, neglected almost totally by both historians and archaeologists.
The establishment of early settlements, the rise and decay of civilizations, demographic shifts of populations and the development of agriculture, were intimately related to the immediate availability of salt.

Erratic eustatic sea level changes, particularly in the Mediterranean, prevented some of these civilizations from attaining consistent salt supplies from sea shore evaporation pans, causing them to migrate or decay, conquer or succumb to others.

The OSTIA salt bed evaporation complex originally built by the Etruscan kings, for example, was initially Rome's supplier of salt, and its eventual flooding caused Rome, to look elsewhere for its salt.

The power to control a population's salt supply was power over life and death  Salt monopoly whether once controlled by benevolent democratic regimes, autocratic fascist regimes or even socialist regimes was the scourge - the triumph - and finally the corroding corruption of all these regimes. Modern Antitrust legislation is only now on the verge of rescuing our western regimes - still very imperfect democracies.

MRBLOCH SALT ARCHIVE, is researching the significance, of SALT [NaCl] through the period 1000 BC . up to the Industrial Revolution.

For detailed references of statements made here, or Bibliography- Please mail:
David Bloch - commonsalt@hotmail.com
MRBLOCH SALT ARCHIVE -

© 1996 -2002 MRBLOCH SALT ARCHIVE - all rights reserved-  DAVID BLOCH

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This web page and those derived from this page, gives collected information derived from other sources believed to be accurate at the time of storage on available Internet disk space.. These web pages are non commercial, and academic in purpose, and are stored as personnel information for the page owner's own use. No warranty of accuracy, reliability or completeness is given and (except in so far as liability under any statute can be excluded) no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions or in negligence is accepted by the author and page owner, David Bloch MRBLOCH SALT ARCHIVE, in the event that others access these pages