Witnessing the 2,000-year-old ancient salt field on rock

The area where salt is made on rocks is called the salt field, covering an area of ​​about 10 hectares, near Go Co village, in Long Thanh 2 hamlet (Pho Thanh ward, Duc Pho town, Quang Ngai province).

The salt flat is located between the sea and the mountains. This area is about 800 m from the ancient Sa Huynh settlement and 500 m from the burial site.

The salt field was discovered on July 10, during the survey of the archaeological site of Sa Huynh Culture by Dr. Doan Ngoc Khoi - Deputy Director of Quang Ngai Provincial Museum - recognized as a National Cultural Heritage.

In this salt field, the ancient Sa Huynh people took advantage of the rock foundation and available seawater to make salt.

Salt making was inherited through the Sa Huynh - Champa - Dai Viet cultures.

To this day, Go Co people still make salt on rocks, continuing the tradition of their ancestors.

As the tide rises, seawater fills the tanks. Under the sun, the seawater condenses, increasing its salinity and is poured into the salt pans.

Salt fields are small cells on the rock surface, natural depressions or those created by people using clay to build banks.

After about a week, each "salt field" can harvest 2-3 kg.

Previously, in the Sa Huynh cultural area, only jar tombs and Long Thanh relics were excavated, but no traces of salt making were ever discovered.

This discovery provided further evidence of three salt-making methods of Sa Huynh residents: drying seawater on rocks to create crystallized salt, boiling seawater to make salt in ceramic pots, and making salt in the fields.

Currently, researchers continue to collect samples of artifacts for analysis, in order to determine the exact age of the salt making profession.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/muc-so-thi-dong-muoi-co-tren-da-2-000-nam-tuoi.html