Visualizing Salt Production below, above, and on the Ground in Ixtapa, Chiapas, Mexico: Insights from Ethnography, Aerial Photogrammetry, and Geochemistry

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Archaeological Investigations in Chiapas, Mexico" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Ixtapa saltworks in highland Chiapas have the distinction of being one of the last Precolumbian saltworks in the interior Maya world that is still in use, and members of Proyecto Arqueológico Sak B’alam y Salinas del Interior de Chiapas and Winthrop University’s Environmental Studies Program have been conducting investigations there for the past five years. While earlier work focused on geochemical analysis and ethnography to understand the techniques used in salt production and the elemental and nutritional properties of the salt itself, during the 2023 field season, project members began a formal investigation of the neighboring archaeological site, La Tortuga. The results of preliminary excavations, materials analysis, and UAV photogrammetry will be discussed in relation to the insights gleaned from longer-term analyses in the present paper, with a particular focus on reconstructing the history of salt production, changing patterns of social organization, and interregional ties.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Archaeological Investigations in Chiapas, Mexico   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39239.0