Writing over 2,000 years ago, the Roman author Pliny the Elder stated unequivocally that “without salt, by Hercules, one cannot have a civilized life”.
Looking back across the span of human history, it's hard to disagree with Pliny's assessment. Different peoples and cultures across the globe have sought out salt for a variety of reasons. Though today, salt is much maligned due to its presence, and overabundance, in many foods, human beings do need a certain amount of it for a healthy lifestyle. (Overconsumption, though, is linked to a number of prominent health issues.)
Still, as Anthony Harding, an archaeologist who studied the history of salt while at University of Exeter, explains “we all need a certain intake of salt, and, of course, it enhances taste.” These two reasons partially help explain the drive to extract salt from the earth and put it to use — a practice that dates back thousands of years and has been utilized by peoples across the globe.
